Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [fire-safety]

27 questions
20
votes
4 answers

Should lintels above wall portals be considered for smoke alarm placement?

I need to place a smoke alarm on my first floor (no sleeping areas). There is a wall portal with a 15" lintel (see image) between the living room and the dining room. I am unsure whether one alarm is adequate for both of these areas. My…
Darryl
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10
votes
3 answers

Is it safe to have an unused bulb socket in my ceiling fan?

I don’t have a bulb for my ceiling fan but it has a glass cover. Is that safe? The bulb popped and I haven’t got a new bulb yet and was wondering if the open socket would be safe.
Bryan
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6
votes
1 answer

Back stabbed outlets

A number of years ago I had our electrician change all of our quick wired/back stabbed outlets in our new home to the screw terminals for better and safer connections. Recently I discovered he didn’t bother to remove them completely but rather cut…
Jban2020
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5
votes
2 answers

Is it safe to use foil heat tape inside the dryer?

The metal air duct pipe inside my electric dryer does not seem to completely seal against the plastic housing of the exhaust blower fan. Is it safe to use metal foil heat tape to join them together, and make sure there is a good seal? This seems to…
culix
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4
votes
3 answers

How can I make my electrical box dustproof?

I have a 1-gang box that I'm installing a switch in, for my wood shop. I need to make it dust-resistant, if not absolutely dustproof. I can't use a waterproof box because I don't think they're made for the depth I need (3.5") to fit the switch. Do…
user278411
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3
votes
3 answers

Part identification: Thermal cutoff within baseboard heater

We had a contractor paint our baseboard heaters with white thermal paint. He gutted the radiator's electrical components, in order to prepare the chassis for painting. In doing so, he snipped what he thought to be a wire, undid a few screws, and…
Alexander
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2
votes
1 answer

Would blown-in insulation provide any degree of blocking in balloon construction?

As I understand it... One of the problems with old-style balloon construction of walls was that since there was a continuous space between studs which ran the full height of the house, a housefire could be exacerbated by these spaces acting as…
keshlam
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2
votes
3 answers

Extension Cords - Electrical Hazards & Safety

We are looking at purchasing a Residence that has a Home Office Area attached to it. It is Commercially zoned in a Canadian Province. Upon doing a walk through, we noticed an extension cord layout like the attached photo which is used to power a…
Ted
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1
vote
1 answer

exposed ceiling around ceiling box

A fundamental tenet of electrical wiring safety is that all connections (of AC household wiring, typically 120 or 240v) be enclosed in rated electrical boxes. However, ceiling light fixtures and fans are typically mounted to 4" diameter circular…
RustyShackleford
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1
vote
1 answer

How do I take the slack out of a door closer chain?

There is a cylinder with a spring inside. Presumably when the spring is compressed it will pull the external chain attached to it to be taught, I.e. not slack. But I can't keep the spring compressed to then insert it back into the door cavity and…
therobyouknow
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1
vote
1 answer

Fire safety for room on interior of home

I’m looking at a house that has a room on the interior (highlighted in red below) with no window/door to the outside of the area. Knowing that this isn’t fire code compliant to be considered a bedroom, what could be done to make it safer? I’m…
coreyg
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1
vote
2 answers

Is wire arcing a potential danger?

I have a cable running along my basement ceiling. There is a cord connection (looks like an extension added to it) but where they connect is all metal (it looks like an AUX jack). There is slack in the cable and the metal connection point was on top…
Jennifer Walker
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1
vote
2 answers

Refrigerator should be away from LPG cylinder. Why?

In India (and probably other parts of the world) there's general advice regarding refrigerator positioning. It is suggested that we keep the refrigerator away from the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder. Can anyone explain what exactly is the…
Krishter
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1
vote
2 answers

Why is my electric wall oven suddenly causing strong hot chemical odor?

Friday solar panel company was in attic crawl space doing wiring for panels. Solar not yet energized. Sunday used electric wall oven, had very strong hot wire/chemical odor, never had this before. Could the Solar work somehow have disturbed or…
Sandy
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0
votes
1 answer

How do I avoid overcharging the inverter battery and keep it healthy

I have installed the Luminous Inverter Battery (lead acid) as power back up for essential electrical appliances at home. There is not much electricity cut. I just want to be sure that I'm not overcharging the battery. I don't understand the below…
CuriousMan
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