Image this: You progress into a brand new house and begin unpacking. As you make your method into the kitchen, you go searching for a spot to place your toaster oven, however there’s an issue. Your kitchen solely consists of one wall outlet — and it is nowhere close to the place you need to put your equipment.

Should you’re enthusiastic about pulling out an extension twine to treatment this difficulty, suppose once more.

“Lots of people do not have data of extension cords,” Paul Martinez, proprietor of Electrified NYC, in Brooklyn, New York, says. “If extension cords are 14-gauge, and also you’re working an equipment with a heating component, [such as] a toaster oven, microwave or dishwasher, a 14-gauge is not going to maintain the amperage and might dissipate the extension twine. And that is what causes fires in New York Metropolis.”

Fourteen- and 12-gauge extension cords are a few of the commonest extension cords bought with a 14-gauge extension twine with the ability to deal with roughly as much as 1,800 watts (or 15 amps, which is similar as a regular wall outlet within the US). Nonetheless, Martinez warns that any equipment of greater than 1,500 watts ought to at all times be on a devoted circuit. 

“No extension cords in any respect,” he says for such home equipment.

Listed here are seven high-risk examples in your house that you need to by no means hook up with an extension twine. 

1. Air fryer 

Air fryers are nice for shortly cooking and warming meals, together with full meals and aspect dishes, nevertheless it’s not a good suggestion to connect them to an extension twine or energy strip. Though they vary in wattage based mostly on dimension, giant air fryers can draw as much as 2,000 watts, making them a significant fireplace hazard in the event that they’re connected to an extension twine. So if you do not have counter area to maintain your air fryer out full time, it is best to drag it out when wanted and plug it right into a devoted wall outlet. 

2. Microwave 

Whereas the dream is to maneuver into a house with a built-in microwave, we’re all not that fortunate. If you must discover a place to attach yours in your kitchen, that is one other heavy-duty equipment that ought to stay by itself devoted circuit resulting from excessive wattage. 

Learn extra: Greatest Microwave for 2024

3. Fridge 

Though fridges use much less wattage than another kitchen home equipment, they’re nonetheless not really useful for extension twine use as they’re continually working. Even when the extension twine would not trigger a hearth when connected to a fridge, there is a chance it might trigger the fridge to malfunction. 

4. Toaster and toaster oven

Though toasters are on the smaller aspect on the subject of kitchen home equipment, they use lots of vitality and pose a hearth risk if related to an extension twine. Toaster ovens want much more energy to function with wattage starting from 1,200 to 1,400 watts. 

5. Extension cords 

Plugging extension cords into different extension cords is one other enormous “no!” within the electrician world. When that is achieved, it is often known as “daisy chaining.” It might probably result in the circuit overheating, which might trigger the cords to overheat.

6. House heaters 

Electrical heaters have lengthy been recognized to be a significant reason for fires. The Client Product Security Fee beforehand estimated that between 2017 and 2019, moveable area heaters have been concerned in 1,700 fires per yr, with a few of these fires leading to deaths. 

“For example you join [an extension cord] to a ground heater,” Martinez says, “the plug melts and it begins a hearth. That is why you’ll be able to’t use extension cords and/or energy strips for any home equipment, as a result of they need to be used for electronics solely.” 

Learn extra: By no means Put a House Heater in These 9 Locations

7. AC unit 

AC items use an excessive amount of energy for an extension twine or energy strip, so that they have to be connected to a wall outlet as properly. Martinez additionally stresses the significance of buying the right AC unit in your area. You should use an on-line BTU calculator to calculate the kind you will want to successfully cool your area. 

“Individuals simply purchase a 5,000 BTU air conditioner, as a result of it is $99 on sale, they usually suppose it’ll cool off [their home], and it doesn’t, ” Martinez says. “[AC units] are alleged to cycle on and off, so they do not pull that a lot vitality. So when you undersize it, the compressor goes to work 10 occasions more durable.”

This may outcome in your house by no means correctly cooling off, a better electrical energy invoice, and if this AC unit is related to an extension twine, probably a hearth.

The underside line on the subject of extension cords

“No home equipment in any respect,” Martinez says, relating to extension cords and energy strips.

He says you must also bear in mind to solely pair energy strips with electronics, and that extension cords should not be used for something above 15 amps (1,800 watts), no matter the place or how the merchandise operates.

For extra house ideas, see how a lot you’ll be able to save utilizing an area heater and be taught the place you need to by no means put a house safety digital camera.