Do you leave your washing machine and dryer on when you leave?

[Dobela]

I don't leave the dryer on when I leave home. I also don't use the heat dryer option on the dishwasher, but that is for reasons other than fire. I have left the clothes washer going and the crock pot.

 

The dryer lint fire is a real possibility. Last year a friend had a fire start in her dryer when a belt of some sort got too hot, broke, then touched some lint in the back of the dryer. It then traveled up inside the wall causing all kinds of damage until they found it and could put it out. If it had reached the attic they would have lost the whole house.

[Rebookie]

I will leave the house with the Washer, Dryer, and Dishwasher on! LOL I'm surprised my home hasn't flooded or burned down! =)

[Mom-ninja.]

I always turn mine off before I leave the house. Am I just being paranoid? I could stay on top of things better if I could just leave them on!

 

Michelle

 

Considering that my friend had a fire start in her dryer vent, no. She was not home, and her neighbor saw smoke coming from the vent of her house and called the fire department.

[Negin]

Thank you to the OP for starting this thread.

 

Yes, until today, I have gone to sleep and left the house with the washing machine and dryer on. I may no longer do so.

 

Surely, washing machines are okay. :confused: Dryers, I can understand, but washing machines??? We have had one flood, because of my stupid mistake of washing pillows :tongue_smilie:. All I can say is thank God for tiled floors! :D

Our home and machines aren't that old - both are now 6 years old.

When I use the dryer, these days, it's seldom for more than 40 minutes, usually even less.

When I have a large load to do, even when I am home, I dry it in intervals - 60 minutes first, then a break, then say 30 minutes, or whatever. I don't like the machine to get too hot.

 

It isn't just the lint int he screen that you clean that is the problem. There is lint built up in other areas of the dryer, including the hose that vents outside. Just cleaning the screen doesn't make it safe. Seriously, I've seen the damage done from a dryer fire. Please don't do it.

Not what I wanted to hear, but one that I already knew, I was just trying to subconsciously ignore what I knew ;).

In my dream of dreams, I would have our repair guy come and do a proper maintenance every several months, but he's very hard to get a hold of.

 

It's interesting to me all these posts about firefighters saying dryers are the biggest cause of house fires. I have known quite a few people whose houses burned down and they were all electrical, or accidents with candles, or lightning strikes - or a coat thrown on a BBQ grill that he thought was cold. I've not known one that was from a dryer. this is news to me. Definitely food for thought.

This also. Same here.

[lauraeden]

I ALWAYS do. My mother, on the other hand, is convinced that something terrible (catastrophic leak, explosion, fire...) will occur and doesn't run them while she is gone.

[HLDoll]

Having had a washing machine hose burst on me, fortunately when I WAS home, I do not leave major appliances (washer/dryer/dishwasher) running when we go to bed or leave the house. Even with being home during that disaster and being able to cut the water within 15/20 minutes, we still had thousands of dollars of damage on all three floors since the washer was upstairs. A friend in a condo had a dishwasher leak into her unit from the one above when the woman went to sleep with it running. Water damage is bad, and I wouldn't risk fire with a dryer either.

 

I will leave the crockpot on when we're not home.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't run the dryer while being gone. I do run the washing machine, dishwasher or crockpot

[justamouse]

All the time. Dishwasher and Crock pot, too. Now the stove I think twice about.

[Veritaserum]

I run stuff while I'm gone (washing machine, dishwasher, dryer).

[Caitilin]

Absolutely--life is too short and too busy not to.:D

[QueenCat]

I leave them on.. well, the dryer, that is. I don't leave wet clothes in the washer, I make sure they get to the dryer before I leave.

[RahRah]

Dishwasher - no, but that's because I generally run it in the morning as we're having breakfast and getting ready for the day. We don't run it at night because we did have a line crack - I was home and could hear the water just gushing out, all over the kitchen....I was able to turn the water off within a couple of minutes of it starting, but that convinced us not to run it at night or when we're out.

 

Washer - no, same reason....but I used to until we had the line crack and flood the kitchen with the dishwasher!

 

Dryer - no, because of the fire hazard.

 

Crockpot - yes, because they're designed to be on for long periods of time and present a very tiny fire risk.

 

Other things:

 

Toaster - always unplugged when not in use - my parents had a fire in their house when their plugged in, not being used, toaster caught on fire and that wiped out about half their house.

 

Coffee Pot - unplugged when not in use - same reason as the toaster - they apparently can and do catch on fire for no good reason.

 

We also turn off the main line to the house (water) when we're going away on vacation - the line cracking in the kitchen was enough for me to worry about just how quickly water can totally flood a house if it gets going and no one is around!

[mcconnellboys]

I do at times, but I shouldn't.... We do watch everything carefully and clean out the dryer line very often....

[Mommy22alyns]

I do. DH prefers them to be turned off.

[katilac]

Yep, both sleeping and leaving the house.

 

While I won't say it's the wisest thing to do, dryers and dishwashers are nowhere near being the top cause of house fires. That distinction goes to cooking, which causes a whopping 66% of house fires, with unattended cooking being the biggest contributor.

 

For example, about 10,000 people die in house fires in a five-year; about four of those deaths could be attributed to malfunctioning dishwashers (a tiny fraction of a percent). The figures for dryers are higher, about 150 deaths, but that is still only 1.5% of the total.

 

Being poor is a major risk factor for dying in a fire (older and/or substandard housing, no smoke detectors, etc).

 

Again, I'm not urging people to leave their appliances on! I just find it interesting that even people you might consider experts (working firefighters) are very susceptible to faulty risk perception. Some of my examples involved dying in a house fire, but remember that first statistic: 66% are caused by cooking. That means that 'most' fires are NOT caused by dryers and dishwashers, even combined.

[Ellie]

I have known quite a few people whose houses burned down and they were all electrical, or accidents with candles, or lightning strikes - or a coat thrown on a BBQ grill that he thought was cold. I've not known one that was from a dryer. this is news to me. Definitely food for thought.

Same here.

 

But when you consider how very many homes there are, that you and I don't know anyone personally who had a dryer fire is not really surprising, KWIM?

 

And then last year one of my neighbors had a fire in the laundry room. From the dryer. :blink:

 

Yeah, no running the dryer when I'm not home or when I go to bed.

[sbgrace]

My parents had a dryer fire when I was a teenager. We were home and my mother saw it almost immediately. It still did a lot of damage. The fire fighters said if we weren't home the house would have been lost.

 

Dryer fires go up the wall and into the ceilings and are extremely fast. I don't run the dryer unless an adult is both home and awake. Honestly, I'd be less likely to leave it running while sleeping given what I know. Its an unnecessary risk for me.

Edited August 3, 2011 by sbgrace

[mrs.m]

My furnace caught fire in my last house. I was told that isn't uncommon either. But everyone leaves that on when they aren't home.

[lionfamily1999]

We unplug the coffee pot. Really, nothing is left on except the stove light. We've lost our house already once, so we're pretty paranoid about losing it again ;)

[bamagirl]

I used to always leave the washer on and leave the house, until this weekend! Washer overflowed, luckily we were home this time but huge mess! Took days to dry out everything. Lesson learned, you never know what could go wrong :glare:

[Orthodox6]

No appliance remains on if we are not home or are asleep. Actually, if I am not home. DH gets lost in his work (job work), and dc are dc.

 

All appliances are unplugged if not in use, other than the refrigerator, freezer, washer and dryer.

[Guest momk2000]

Never, I always turn it off.

[8circles]

No appliance remains on if we are not home or are asleep. Actually, if I am not home. DH gets lost in his work (job work), and dc are dc.

 

All appliances are unplugged if not in use, other than the refrigerator, freezer, washer and dryer.

 

Nobody uses any appliances if you aren't home? I think I'm misunderstanding you.

[Orthodox6]

That was poorly written, wasn't it ?! I was on the way to store, so slopped out a post. I commenced by responding to OP's enquiry about washer and dryer, but branched out into other appliances, resulting in a silly-sounding post.

 

I can't rely on the family to check on either washer or dryer if I am not here. DH is a little better about it. At any rate, I'm writing about when I am gone for very long period of time (not just a quick run to a store) and/or when I have gone to sleep for the night.

 

For sure, everyone uses the appliances as needed. :)

 

We do unplug everything (apart from the four afore-cited) unless something is in immediate use.

 

Did I unscramble that sufficiently? :confused:

 

Nobody uses any appliances if you aren't home? I think I'm misunderstanding you.

[kewb]

Much to dh's horror I have left the house with the dryer running. I know that is a big no no and I am taking a chance so I don't do it often.

[8circles]

That was poorly written, wasn't it ?! I was on the way to store, so slopped out a post. I commenced by responding to OP's enquiry about washer and dryer, but branched out into other appliances, resulting in a silly-sounding post.

 

I can't rely on the family to check on either washer or dryer if I am not here. DH is a little better about it. At any rate, I'm writing about when I am gone for very long period of time (not just a quick run to a store) and/or when I have gone to sleep for the night.

 

For sure, everyone uses the appliances as needed. :)

 

We do unplug everything (apart from the four afore-cited) unless something is in immediate use.

 

Did I unscramble that sufficiently? :confused:

 

Haha! Yes, that makes sense. Gotcha.:)

[Lady Florida.]

No. Twice we've had a hose overflow on the washer drain, and if we hadn't been home there would have been a lot of things in the garage ruined. I've never had a problem with the dryer, but because of the potential fire hazard I don't leave it running. My stepson is a firefighter and has told us some sobering stories about home appliances causing fires.

 

I used to leave my crock pot on. After all, that's what they're supposed to be for, right? Several years ago though, I came home to a crock pot whose element melted, for lack of a better word. Whatever safety feature was built into it apparently worked, because the thing just shut off. However, I kept thinking what if it hadn't? What if it melted all the way through to the countertop and started a fire? We too have pets, and I couldn't stand the the though of them dying in a house fire that could have been prevented.

[AHASRADA]

Yup. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, crock pot (although not the oven) stay on when I'm gone if it's convenient. I'm also not paranoid about unplugging the toaster and coffee pot when I leave, either.

 

I wouldn't do anything reckless to endanger my home, but my time is precious, and it usually works out to switch the laundry before I leave, so I can fold when I get home, and run the dishwasher so it can be emptied upon our return.

 

I figure, if anything unforeseen happens with these appliances, that's what insurance is for. I refuse to be captive to worry about "what ifs" day in and day out.

[Running the race]

I do. I probably shouldn't.

 

WSS