Emergency Appliance Repair

An appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even flames coming from the household appliance.

If an appliance emergency arises in your home, unplug the appliance right away and call Carter’s Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Pennsylvania. If there is an electrical fire happening with one of the large or small appliances inside of your house, we suggest calling the town fire department before attempting to eliminate the fire on your own.

An electrical fire from an appliance can be very scary and extremely dangerous, but there are a couple of ways to be prepared in case of an emergency. If an appliance is in flames, it’s important to not panic. Follow our simple guidelines below to help keep your home safe from electrical fires.

PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES

Homeowners can prevent electrical fires from ever starting by following a couple of basic rules of appliance safety in a home. Do not plug in too many devices into a single outlet—the wiring might become overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there’s clutter like paper or clothes close to the outlet.

Sometimes we forget about the apparent dangers of larger home appliances since they remain plugged in all of the time, but they still present as much chance for a fire hazard as small appliances like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher shouldn’t be left running overnight or while you are not at home, and don’t place a refrigerator or freezer in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems inside.

Inspect all of the outlets on a regular basis for extreme heat, signs of burns, and buzzing or crackling sounds that could indicate electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one working smoke detector on each story of your house, and test the smoke detectors quarterly to keep them in good working condition.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there’s an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it could be tempting to put out the flames with water, however water shouldn’t be used to fight an electrical appliance fire.

Water will conduct electricity, and dumping water on or near a power source might cause a dangerous electrical shock. It might even make the fire worse. Water might conduct electricity to additional locations of the room, increasing the risk of igniting other flammable objects nearby.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate step you should do is unplug the device from the power source and call the local fire department. Even if you might be able to take care of the fire yourself, it is a good idea to have help if the flames do get out of hand.

For minor fires, you might be able to use baking soda to smother the fire. Covering the smoking or burning area with baking soda can block oxygen flow to the fire with little risk of electrocution. Baking soda also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the same chemical in standard fire extinguishers. You also might be able to extinguish a smaller fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only when the flames are small enough to not catch the blanket on fire too.

For large electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you have at least one Type C extinguisher in your house. Extinguishers need to be checked consistently to ensure they haven’t expired. If there is a working extinguisher on hand, just release the pin at the top, aim the hose at the fire, and press the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to fight by yourself or you think the fire might block an exit, leave the house immediately, close the door , and wait for assistance from the local fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Carter’s Appliance Repair once the flames are extinguished and we can diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and return it to working order.

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Appliance Repair Cost
Appliance Repair Tips
Appliance Safety
Repair or Replace Appliances
Refrigerator Parts