Why Do So Many Small Appliances Cause Fires?
Just reading the Amazon reviews gives an indication of how frequently small appliances cause fires. Some of the people posting reviews shared photos of a completely burned bread maker, or air fryer. Another percentage of reviewers describe the appliance starting to smoke, so they immediately unplugged it.
Certain appliances have recalls on them due to faulty wiring. An example is an earlier version of the Cosori air fryer. In 2023 Cosori recalled more than 2 million air fryers due to a faulty wire connection.
It seems bread makers can also be a fire hazard, which could be partly due to ingredients spilling over onto the elements without the homeowner realizing it.
For people who live in older homes, we have to take into consideration that countertop plugins were initially designed for simple coffee makers, kettles, and toasters. Now we have combination appliances like countertop convection ovens that double as air fryers.
In looking at many of these countertop appliances, in particular convection oven/air fryers I noticed that most of them are 1800 watts.
If you open the breaker box in your house or condo, and have a look, you will notice that most breakers are 15 amp, which means they can take a maximum load of 1800 watts.
However, common sense tells us we should not use the maximum wattage. If you look it up, the advice is not to exceed 80% of the wattage. Therefore the countertop appliances should not be more than 1500 watts. If you are running a high wattage appliance, nothing else should be plugged into that outlet.
The breaker box indicates which locations have higher amp circuits, such as the one needed for a stove. But what confused me is that it pointed out two countertop plugins, numbers 8 and 9 both with 15 amps, and two red ones labelled as 20 amps. So that means two of the countertop plugins should be 20 amps. But which ones?
I looked it up to find out that the 15 and 20 amp plugins are usually different. The 20 amp plugins have a small T-shape where the appliance plugs in, as a safety feature, and to differentiate it from the 15 amp plugins. But alas, they all look the same, so I could not tell if any of the plugins can safely take an 1800 watt countertop appliance.
You can get a plugin meter for around $20 on Amazon that will tell you if your plugin is being overloaded. They are designed mostly to measure consumption, and help you determine how much electricity a certain appliance is taking from a cost perspective. But they don’t tell you if the plugin has 20 amps, because the device is made to measure the electricity from 15 amp plugins.
The other types of voltage metres require more electrical expertise than my own limited knowledge. You have to somehow wire them into the system.
But as a cautionary element surrounding all the more advanced small appliances, it is a good idea to carefully check the wattage required. So many of the manufacturers have set the appliances up to draw the absolute maximum of 1800 watts.
For those who do opt for an 1800 watt small appliance, I think one of the plugin overload warning gadgets would be a good idea, so you are given advance notice of a circuit overload, and can shut it off.
The other thing the companies who make these products often advertise, is to set a bread maker up with a timer, so you can wake up to fresh made bread. You just might wake up to the smoke detector by the sounds of it. The small appliances, unless they are very low wattage, should not be left unattended. That would include some of the high wattage coffee makers.
Slow cookers, or crock pots have been around since the 1970’s, and to my knowledge they have not posed much of a fire hazard. If you look up the wattage, they are typically around 250-400 watts.
The whole idea with slow cookers, is that you could put the ingredients in the pot in the morning, go to work, and come home to a hot meal. But I don’t think they really got used all that much, which might be the reason we did not hear about them causing fires. They stayed in the bottom drawer, until they were donated to the thrift store. How many people want to get up in the morning, and cook dinner, before going to work?
The newer and more complex coffee makers can take up to 1500 watts. Bread makers range between 450-850 watts. Air fryers and countertop convection ovens range between 800-2000 watts.
Another thing to consider, is whether or not the appliance is hard to clean. If there are crumbs, or oil and grease that build up, it is more likely to catch fire.
It seems that some of the fire risks are the result of faulty manufacturing, and others are the result of the owner/operator not being aware of the potential circuit overload, or the risk of a build up of crumbs, oil and grease.
I suppose the takeaway, is to think it through, and do plenty of research, as far as buying those appliances in the first place. If you do buy one, stay home while it is running, don’t run it at night, and keep it clean.
Personally, I have decided not to buy any countertop appliance that exceeds 1500 watts. It does not make sense to buy an appliance that maxes out the circuit. In fact, it makes me wonder why they don’t limit the wattage on countertop appliances to 1600, or even 1700 watts at the most. After all, they know about the standard 15 amp/1800 watt wiring in most homes, when it comes to counter top plugins.
I often take note of what kinds of small appliances end up in the thrift stores. When I go out for a walk, I will often include walking around a thrift store, to see what is there. It tells you what appliances either broke down, or were not useful enough to keep. Among the most common small appliances I see are toaster ovens, and those small electric waffle makers. Go figure.
Some things are just better the old fashioned way. What is wrong with a regular toaster to make toast, and a pan to make waffles?
I have never used a bread maker, so I really don’t know how well they work. It sounds like they might be a fire hazard, and are notoriously difficult to get the right texture, with even cooking throughout. I prefer making bread the old fashioned way, kneading dough by hand. It’s kind of therapeutic.
Just FYI there is a government website that lists all the products that have recalls, and safety alerts, so you can check before you make the purchase.