Washing machines are the biggest cause of home blazes involving faulty appliances, research by Which? has indicated.
There were almost 12,000 fires caused by faulty, incorrectly installed or poorly maintained home products in just over three years, according figures obtained by consumer group Which?.
Washing machines were responsible for 14% of domestic fires between January 2011 and March 2014, according to the data which was revealed after a freedom of information request.
Tumble dryers (12%) and dishwashers (11%) were the second and third biggest causes, while irons (1%) were responsible for the least fires.
The figures have been described as “shocking” by Which? executive director Richard Lloyd.
He said: “It’s shocking that some everyday household appliances can pose such a danger – washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers are often the appliances we leave on overnight or as we leave our house.
“More needs to be done to protect consumers from this risk and it’s crucial that products known to be dangerous are recalled as quickly as possible.”
Whilst that is true there are in fact very few recalls of major appliances because, for the most part, they are incredibly safe and all the more so when they are used and maintained correctly.
It is also vital to understand that these figures do not show how many of the reported instances were as a result of factors not directly related to any failure of the product itself.
Every week we will see or hear of reports of a fire in one appliance or another and, it is rare that any brand is named or that any reason for the failure is given. From what information we have seen it appears to be rather random in terms of machine make and model, even type and age. This would lead us to think that many are more down to use or other factors than a technical issue.
Our standing advice is that appliances should not, if at all possible, be left running completely unattended because should a problem occur then there is nobody around to do anything about it. That could be a leak, a fault or components burning out some of which are far more common issues.
As per all fire brigades, we also strongly recommend that you have working smoke alarms so that, if there is any sort of incident, you are warned about it.