Appliances cause 15,000 fires a year, research finds

Household appliances cause 15k accidental fires a year in England, and there are big brand names responsible, according to a new report.

Research by Essex-based supplier of products and services to the electrical industry ElectricalDirect showed that, of the accidental appliance fires in 2019/20, 2.2k (15%) of them were caused by the appliance being faulty. This equates to 43 fires a week.

The biggest culprits were washing machines, accountable for nearly a quarter (23%) of the faulty appliance fires. Tumble dryers (20%) and cookers (9%).

Appliances that caused the most fires due to being faulty

Rank	Appliance Type	Number of fires due to being faulty (2019/20)
1	Washing machine	520
2	Tumble dryer	459
3	Cooker incl. oven	201
4	Fridge/ Freezer	181
5	Dishwasher	171
6	Extractor fan	118
7	Grill/ Toaster	116
8	Other domestic style appliance	96
9	Microwave oven	74
10	Washer/ Dryer combined	54

(Number of faulty household appliances that caused fires in England in 2019/20)

The data, sourced and analysed from government fire statistics, revealed that Hotpoint appliances caused the greatest number of faulty appliance fires last year, with 311 recorded, 112 of which were washing machines and 105 tumble dryers.

The second brand at fault was Indesit with 183 reported fires – the biggest offenders being tumble dryers (69) and washing machines (67).

Third was Beko, whose goods caused 150 fires. Of these, the majority were washing machines (52) and tumble dryers (29), although dishwashers (27) and fridge/ freezers (26) were also noted.

Brands whose appliances caused the most fires due to being faulty

Rank	Brand	Number of faulty appliance fires (2019/20)
1	Hotpoint	311
2	Indesit	183
3	Beko	150
4	Bosch	100
5	Hoover	93
6	Candy	59
7	Zanussi	47
8	White Knight	39
9	Whirlpool	33
10	Bush	32

(Number of faulty household appliances that caused fires in England in 2019/20 by brand)

ElectricalDirect is urging those that purchase new appliances to ensure they are registering them and to keep an eye on the UK Government’s Product Recall page.

Dominick Sandford, director at ElectricalDirect, said: “Make sure new appliances are registered so that manufacturers can contact you in the event of any problems. It is easy to do and takes minutes, just visit registermyappliance.org.uk.

“If you notice an appliance isn’t working properly make sure you seek professional help when looking to get it repaired. Attempting to repair an appliance yourself may result in further damage, increasing the risk of fire and even electrocution.”

Top 10 household appliances most likely to cause an accidental fire

The study also revealed that the most common causes of accidental appliance fires were placing household items too close to sources of heat, misuse of appliances and reported faults. Cookers, toasters and hobs were the most likely to cause fires.

Cookers were responsible for 8,000 accidental fires in 2019/20, 53% of total appliance fires in England. Hot plates and toasters came second and third, causing 11% and 9% of fires respectively.

Rank	Appliance	Number of fires caused in 2019/20	% change Y-O-Y
1	Cooker incl. oven	8,001	-3.50%
2	Ring/ hot plate (separate appliance)	1,581	-2.95%
3	Grill/ Toaster	1,368	-4.00%
4	Microwave oven	922	-7.80%
5	Tumble dryer	668	4.70%
6	Washing machine	624	6.85%
7	Fridge/ Freezer	215	-6.11%
8	Dishwasher	194	-7.62%
9	Deep fat fryer	186	2.20%
10	Extractor fan	182	-0.55%

(Number of household appliances that caused fires in England in 2019/20 and percentage difference in 2019/20 vs 2018/19)

Tags: appliance fires, electricaldirect, product recalls, register my appliance

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