An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the home appliance.
In the event of an appliance emergency in your house, unplug the appliance right away and call Smithtown Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Smithtown. If there’s an electrical fire from one of the appliances in your house, we recommend calling the local fire department even before you attempt to extinguish the fire by yourself.
An electrical fire from an appliance can be very scary and very dangerous, but there are a few ways to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances goes up in flames, it’s important not to panic. Follow these simple guidelines below to keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.
You are able to stop electrical fires before they start by following some basic guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Do not plug more than two electrical devices into one electrical outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like clothes or paper close to the electrical outlet.
It is possible to forget about the apparent dangers of large home appliances since they remain plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much of a fire hazard as smaller appliances like kitchen toasters and space heaters. Large appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher should not be left to run overnight or while you’re away from home, and do not place a refrigerator or freezer in line of direct sunlight, in order to prevent possibly overworking their cooling systems.
Inspect all outlets on a regular basis for extreme heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling sounds that might point to electrical arcing. Be sure you have at least one working smoke detector on every story of your home, and test them regularly to keep them in working order.
If there is an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it can be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water shouldn’t be used on an electrical appliance fire.
Water can conduct electricity, and throwing water on a power source could give a harmful electrical shock. It might even make the fire worse. Water could conduct the electricity to other locations of the room, running the chance of igniting other flammable items in the area.
The immediate step you need to do is unplug the electric appliance from the power outlet and call your local fire department. Even if you think you can extinguish the fire on your own, it’s important to have help if the fire does get out of hand.
For smaller fires, you could be able to use baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the smoking or burning area with some baking soda can prohibit oxygen flow to the flames with little risk of electrocution. Baking soda also includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical used in regulation fire extinguishers. You might be able to put out a small fire with a heavy blanket, but only if the fire is small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire.
For large electrical fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you own at least one Type C extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers should also be checked regularly to ensure they aren’t expired. If there’s a working extinguisher on hand, just pull the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the flames, and press the handle. If the fire gets too dangerous to fight alone or you think the fire may block an exit, you should leave the home as fast as possible, close the door behind you, and then wait for assistance from the local fire department.
For the small appliance fires, call Smithtown Appliance Repair once the flames are under control and we can diagnose the cause of the fire and repair the electrical appliance and restore it to working order.
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