Emergency Appliance Repair

A typical appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even a fire coming from the home appliance.

If an appliance emergency arises in your home, unplug the appliance right away and call Ready Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Annandale. If there’s an electrical fire happening with one of the large or small appliances inside your home, we suggest calling the city fire department before attempting to extinguish the fire yourself.

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

HOW TO PREVENT ELECTRICAL FIRES

You can prevent electrical fires before they start by following a few basic guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Don’t plug in more than two devices into a single outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially if there is clutter like clothes or paper near the electrical outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the dangers of large appliances since they are plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much of a fire hazard as smaller appliances like kitchen toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher shouldn’t be left to run overnight or any time you are not at home, and do not keep a freezer or refrigerator in direct sunlight, to prevent overworking the cooling systems inside.

Examine all of the outlets regularly for excessive heat, burn marks, and buzzing or crackling noises that might indicate electrical arcing. Be sure you store at least one smoke detector on each floor of your house, and test them regularly to keep them in working order.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there’s an appliance repair emergency such as an electrical fire, it can be tempting to douse the fire with water, but water should never be used to put out an electrical fire.

Water can conduct electricity, and throwing water on or near a power source could give a harmful electrical shock. It might even make the fire even worse. Water might conduct electricity to additional areas of the room, running the chance of igniting other flammable items nearby.

HOW TO PUT OUT AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The first step you need to do is to unplug the electric device from the power outlet and call the fire department. Even if you are able to handle the fire on your own, it is a good idea to have backup if the fire does get out of control.

For small fires, you may be able to pour on baking soda to douse the fire. Covering the smoldering or burning area with baking soda can prevent oxygen flow to the fire with little chance of electrocution. Baking soda also contains sodium bicarbonate, which is the substance in standard fire extinguishers. You may be able to extinguish a small fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only if the flames are small enough not to catch the blanket on fire as well.

For large electrical fires, you need a Type C fire extinguisher. You should always make sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use fire extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers need to be inspected often to make sure they aren’t expired. If you have a working fire extinguisher in the home, pull the pin at the top, aim the nozzle at the fire, and press the handle. If the fire gets too big to put out alone or you are concerned the fire may block an exit, leave the home right away, close the door , and then wait for assistance from the fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Ready Appliance Repair once the fire is under control and we can diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to working order.

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