Dehumidifier Cause of House Fire
A dehumidifier caught fire Saturday in the 5100 block of White Oak Road bringing out 16 pieces of apparatus, including two medical units. (Source)
This is not the first time I heard about the risk posed by a dehumidifier. Not too long ago Whirlpool had recalled approximately 1.4 million dehumidifiers with serial numbers that begin with QG, QH, QJ, QK or QL (More info here). It seems to me that as a site owner of a dehumidifier site, I ought to write more on this issue to let the owners or buyers to keep aware of this potential threat and to lower their exposure to this risk.
For those of you who own a dehumidifier or about to own one, you should always keep in mind that a dehumidifier is as likely to catch fire as other home appliances. Similar to other electrical appliances, the risk of having a fire can be reduced dramatically if proper maintenance is performed on regular basis. If you are worried about the safeness of dehumidifiers after reading this news, here is what a licensed contractor said in response to this news:
A working dehumidifier will not cause a fire if it is working and connected properly. They are no more apt to cause a fire than any other electrical appliance. If the unit overheats it will shut off on the internal overload protection. If it draws to much electricity from the outlet, it will trip the circuit breaker. Those items will prevent a fire. A dehumidifier does use a fair amount of current, so the plug will get warm (not hot), to the touch. If the unit is working, stop worrying about it. It will be fine. Lightning causes many more home fires than dehumidifiers.
I would like to encourage you to take a look at our Dehumidifier maintenance guide article if you are serious about protecting your family and property.
I have also included a free ebook “Safeguarding Your Family’s Health, Wealth & Happiness” for you to download. All you have to do is leave a comment and let me know whether you like this free ebook or not, and let me know what type of free ebook you would like to see in the future.
