Electric Stove Safety

By anonym | March 13, 2010

  • My 73-year-old mother likes to use the top of the electric stove like a counter. She insists that it's perfectly safe to leave books lying around on top of the burners, or spread newspaper over them, as long as the burners are off and the power supply to the stove is switched off. My mother is adamant that what she is doing is fine, but she has agreed to try to remember not to do this if I will ask someone who understands electricity, and if that person agrees that it is dangerous. If I'm wrong, and what my mother's doing is safe - well and good. If I'm right, she needs to hear it from a credible source.


  • Thank you for your question. Under normal conditions, a stove operating properly should not cause a fire. Although every public fire safety web site (cities, fire departments, power utilities) clearly states that flammable objects of any kind, liquid and paper need to be kept away from stoves, even electric stoves, I see you are facing a slightly different dilemma. You need to prove that if the person operating the stove NEVER makes a mistake, the paper on the stove is still dangerous. Several situations could pose a danger. Paper can slide down along the sides or behind the stove. The paper could ignite, particularly because stoves areas generally have a lot of grease around, which can get on the paper and add to it's fire danger. The dangerous situation arises when you turn on your stove, not able to see the paper. Occasionally short circuits and wiring problems do happen, sometimes inside appliances. A spark during a short circuit can ignite paper nearby. What if the paper falls behind the stove near the electric receptable? What if the stove wiring fails? There is one case I found in a legal proceeding where an electric stove exploded. The mention is far into the document so I suggest a page search (Ctrl + F in Windows) for "stove" once you get to the document. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=346&invol=15 Paper can spontaneously combust, rarely but it has been known to happen. Here is a story about a house fire started by spontaneous combustion. http://www.dogsinthenews.com/issues/0207/articles/020705a.htm The third dangerous scenario is when a power outage happens while someone is cooking and the individual doesn't turn the burner off. Later, when the power comes back on, the burner heats up and ignites anything flammable in the vicinity, not just directly on the burner. Unattended burners get very hot, as many of the sites warned. Advice from IPL, a power company gives advice on what to do during a power outage. In case of a power outage..."Make sure your electric stove is off. If a burner is on and goes unnoticed after the power is restored, it could cause a fire." http://www.ipalco.com/YOURHOME/Electric_Safety.html Lastly, is your mother the only one in the house? Are there children who might play with the stove knobs and accidentally turn on the unattended stove? Here is a paragraph discussing stove safety for seniors, though specifically for alzheimers patients, so not one I would recommend showing your mom directly. "... is common for them to turn on the stove and then forget that they have done so. Other times, they may plan to cook something, but they'll put empty pans on the burner. These are serious fire hazards. And people who are left at home alone or who get up at night are especially at risk. If you have an electric stove, consider having a switch installed behind it that will allow you to turn the stove on and off." http://www.alzheimersdisease.com/caregiver/coping/safety.asp I found such a switch, that emits a warning sound if the stove is left on when someone turns off the lights in the kitchen. What a great idea! http://www.stoveminder.com/how.html This web site is typical of what fire safety officials recommend for stove safety: http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/FIRE/elecfire.html Your question had asked for electrical background. I had a year of physics, one third of that focusing on electricity. Since then I've rewired a house during a remodel project, for which I had to learn quite a bit about home electrical work. Since then, over the last 15 years, I've done a variety of home electrical repair and installation projects. I hope I've armed you with enough information to bring your mother around to your viewpoint. Regards, historybuff search terms: "electric stove" "electrical fire" "electric stove" combustion "electric stove" safety paper "spontaneous combustion"


  • I might mention too, that if you would like more links on stove safety from fire departments and the like, I'm glad to provide them. I didn't want to flood you with the same information repeated!


  • Thank you, historybuff, for such a thorough and considered answer. I read it to my mother over the phone. In answer to your offer, I would very much appreciate it if you could post further links to stove-safety information. Many thanks, Telepath


  • Thank you for taking the time to provide a rating, and such a nice comment. Here are some fire safety sites that talk about stoves: New York City Fire Department: http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/safety/firesafety_inspect.html Hartford Insurance: http://www.thehartford.com/firesense/causes_prev/cooking.htm http://www.thehartford.com/firesense/shopping_guide/safer_cooking.htm#range The Trumbal Volunteer Fire Department provides an account of a stove fire. "He said a basket of clothes was placed on top of an unused electric stove next to a washing machine in the basement and the stove was turned on accidentally." http://www.tcfd.com/news/ A chart of the percentage of fires that begin on stoves from Alberta Municipal Affairs http://www.tcfd.com/news/ The Red Cross says "Don't store items on the stove top; they could catch fire" in their section titled "Cooking With Care" http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/homeheat.html From the Alexandria Fire Department we hear, "You should never put anything on the stove you don't want to heat" under their "Kitchen Fire Safety" section. http://ci.alexandria.va.us/fire/1_2_1_1.html There you go!







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