How long it take an electric to burn a house down

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Chauncey

How long it take an electric to burn a house down? Ok maybe I am stupid but I want an answer please. Your thoughts? Thanks.

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Michael

"Now you now how much time it takes to burn your house to ground..."

It depends on material which was used to build walls of your home. If home is made from wood then fire will burn it in 15 to 20 minutes and even best firefighters will not help. But if it`s made from concrete it can take even few hours to burn your home to ground. Hope my answer help and now you now how much time it takes to burn your house to ground (i hope you don`t want to do this). Regards Michael.

This answer closely relates to:

Time it takes for a home to burn from fire

Q. How long should a cord of would last?
hi, we have a wood stove, and just starting using it last night. i had a cord of wood delivered and am wondering about how long it should last us. i am burning it 24/7 with the heat off in the house to save on the electric bill. i threw a lot of logs in last night to burn through the night, and only trowing one in at time during the day. we live in md. any ideas? wood stove was installed in 1982, but is air tight and cast iron. meant to spell wood not would... sorry it's late!

Sounds like it may last you 2-3 weeks at the rate your using it. It is highly variable though depending on outside temp and your comfort level.

Q. Gas/electric (council house) - wtf?
i live in a 2 bedroom house with my mum, she is the only who uses the bulk of the gas/electric (cooking etc) and lately weve noticed a very sharp increase in the amount of money we are spending on it, or more precisely how long it lasts. its not to common for us to have to top up the gas or electric every few days at most, im talking about £10 at a time here. yesterday the electric was topped up, today the gas ran out. is this common? it feels like a lot of the resource is being used, for a house schedule that really hasn't changed in a lot of time. do any tradesmen have any ideas? or has anyone heard stories of a reason behind this? is something faulty? p.s. we have spelt burning smell for a while, and the shower cut out the other day - turned out we believe water had been dripping onto wires, electrician has yet to come out, but fuse is off - related?

hiya, im in a 2 bedroom flat, i put £80 on my gas for 1 month,it use to be £65 a month,i only have gas Central heating.on my electric i use £70 a month, it was £55 a month.im cooking with electric.these prices have go up since november.i have had all my meters/wiring etc check for faults,but they were ok. .its a lot of money to spend.i live here on my own,and only get my state pension.which leaves hardly any think for food,and bills like mobile,and line rental for broad band.water rates/tv licence.and any think else that comes up.so yes i think its disgusting.i can't get a job,as im on oxygen 24/7.and in a wheelchair 24/7.so i have to manage best i can.

Q. Why is electric baseboard heaters scorching walls?no, there is no dirt in them, i checked, thanks?
had someone say could be oils burning off, been in house too long for that. heat coming out registered at 133deg. but not all heaters are scorching. any help would be great. thanks

"Over time..."

Over time, high temperature equipment will cause "scorching."

Q. Would accidently leaving an oven on for a week be bad?
i forgot to double check my oven before i left for a week long trip this morning. now i am worried that my house will burn down. it's a electric stove there is nothing in it except two cooking pans

Most non-OCD types would assume it is OK. Did you have it on immediately before you left? If not there is nothing real to fear. Do you have a neighbor that you left a spare key with? If you do ask them to check it. If you had pots in there with ovenproof handles even a week of heating would not bother them. If they were not ovenproof they might get overheated and make a burnt-plastic smell but are unlikely to blaze up and cause external damage.

Q. Tips for cooking a turkey in an electric roaster/barbeque/deep-fry?
i have two ovens. well had is more accurate. due to a long series of events, my two oven house (one small and one turkey-sized large) is a one oven house (small oven only) for at least a couple weeks. i've been debating how to make thanksgiving dinner without an oven big enough to fit a turkey. i have come across the possiblity of using an electric turkey roaster for the turkey and then doing my best to make everything else on the stovetop or with very organized oven use. but i've never used a tabletop roaster, and the more i'm reading the more i find that most sites suggest putting the turkey in the oven for a bit after roasting to get it nice and brown and "roasted looking." however, for us, that's not really possible this year. anyone have suggestions on how to best make roast turkey that looks nice and tastes great in a roaster and not use an oven at all? and also... do you like using roasters. would you suggest a completely different way of cooking a turkey? deep frying? i've heard both pros and cons of that, mostly that to do it outside in an uncovered area, it doesn't cook all your bird evenly, and defrost your turkey or you'll burn your house down. how about barbequing (we don't own one big enough and don't really have space to keep one, but i guess we could buy one)? it's an expensive alternative to both deep-fry and tabletop roaster, and i've never barbequed anything more than chicken, steak and pork chops. need some fellow foodie help out there. ideas from anyone and in any form greatly appreciated. please do not suggest i buy a pre-made thansgiving dinner from the local supermarket. quite honestly, i find those are full of cardboard-tasting, cafeteria food that's just nothing but salty, soggy awful. it takes a village to roast a turkey without an oven.

"The cleanup and the potential fire hazards..."

It's actually fairly easy to roast a turkey without an oven. Avoid the deep oil frying method. It's a huge safety hazard and you just don't want to deal with the mess, the cleanup and the potential fire hazards. I use an electric BBQ smoker that I bought at Wal-Mart one year for about $40 along with some applewood, or mesquite wood for smoking. Soak the wood in water for at least 1 hour prior to starting smoking. Prepare the turkey (without the stuffing) as you normally would and place it on the top rack of the smoker. You'll have a pan filled with water hanging below it (comes with the smoker). Start the smoker and throw a few of the wood chips onto the element at the bottom. Start it around 8AM and leave it in there until around 6PM or even later if you want. The secret here is to wait until you can cleanly pull the leg bone out of the turkey all by itself with very little effort. It should just pull out easily. That's your sign that it's done. Then carefully remove it from the smoker and place it on a large carving platter. Let it rest about 40 minutes or more to re-absorb juices. I found that this method produces the leanest and moistest turkey possible.

Q. A problem with our electric clothes dryer? (a bit long, sorry!)?
okay, we have your average everyday basic electric clothes dryer. my mom washed clothes last night, and everything was fine. this morning, i washed some clothes and put them in the dryer. the dryer came on and turned, but no heat. someone had pushed the dryer around a little bit (a common occurence around here...they probably leaned on it and it's on a slick floor), which change the angle of the exhaust in the back. we've had that happen before and i was able to just readjust it until the heat came back on and the exhaust airflow was how it needed to be. it exhausts through the back bottom center of the dryer, and i have it connected to an aluminum dryer vent hose. the hose runs through a hole in our floor, into the basement briefly and out of the brick walls to exhaust outside of the house. today when i put my clothes in, no heat. i wiggled the plug and pushed in on the plug (to make sure it was plugged in) with a nonconductive wood object - it sparked at me (we have a bit of a dangerous plug - it's an old 220v with a wire running up from the basement). after fiddling with the plug, i felt the heating element in the back of the dryer heat up. however, after about 30 minutes...it became extremely hot on the back of the dryer, as if it was heating up too much. this horrible nauseating smell that i can only describe as burning plastic and the smell of a waterhouse went throughout the house. it's venting outdoors. i checked the vent to make sure it's not clogged - it's not and airflow is fully going outside of the house with no problem. i noted some condensation inside of the aluminum dryer hose as the air was blowing out - but it's cold outside, so that should be typical. eventually it seemed a little smokey and i turned the dryer off when it seemed like the heating element was way too hot (by feeling the back of the dryer - it does get that hot normally). the burning smell was not coming from inside of the dryer where the clothes were, though - there was no smell in there. so it had to have been coming from inside of the dryer itself - possibly the heating element. what would cause this? i've worked on our dryers before this one, and i remember that there are a few different thermostats on it. i remember one is called something like a hi-limit thermostat. does that keep the dryer from getting 'too hot' like that? that's about the only thing i can think of. and...sorry about the grammatical/spelling errors. it smells like a water hose also, it doesn't get that hot, normally. frigidaire model ferb5700ds0 120/240vac no lint in the lint filter - checked it. the run is very short - it is about 36 inches from the dryer exhaust inside until it reaches the outside of the house. and yeah, we're getting out of this house not too long from now. it has had constant problems since we've lived here, and too many problems beyond my ability to fix.

"And start a fire..."

First, get that plug fixed. If it is sparking, it could be arcing when you run the dryer. This can cause overheating in the circuit, and start a fire. Don't use or test the dryer until this problem is fixed. Next, disconnect the dryer. Remove the access panel(s) (probably the back of the dryer). Clean the inside of the dryer. Remove accumulated lint and dust. If the motor has vents, vacuum out the motor. Yes, dryers to have thermostats that turn the heating elements on and off. One of the functions is to act as a safety device, and prevent the dryer from overheating. On some dryers, the device that limits the maximum temperature is a something like a fuse. If the dryer gets too hot, it "blows" and shuts the dryer off until it is replaced. The other thermostats are used depending on the temperate setting you set from the control panel. After you get the plug repaired, and the dryer cleaned, you can test the dryer at various settings. Try setting it on the lowest heat, and seeing if the temperatures seem normal for that setting. If it is, try the next higher setting. If the temperature gets out of range, try changing the thermostat(s) for that setting. To be on the safe side, you can try replacing the thermo. safety device. By the way, it is possible that an overheating motor will cause that smell. However, since you say the dryer feels too hot, it is probably the thermostat(s).

Q. A bit of an odd one, this: how do you sabotage an electric oven?
sorry if this makes me comes across as a bit of a nut-case, but here goes: no, i'm not planning on doing it for real. what i am doing is writing a story where one character kills another by causing their electric oven to burst into flames and burn down the house. i realised in the middle of writing it that i have no idea how this could be made to happen with 100% certainty - obviously the oven could be made to overheat, but there's no way of guaranteeing it. the reason it has to be electric is because of the way i've set the situation up (which might have to be completely re-done if i find out i can't do it like this!). the characters (i'll call them character a and character b) are stuck in a house in the grip of winter and the gas valve on their water boiler has gone, along with all their gas-powered central heating. one of the characters hits upon the idea of turning on the electric ovens and leaving the doors open so they can have at least a little heat in the house. incidents happen, character a's bitter hatred of the (oblivious) character b comes to a peak. character b gets drunk and passes out on the kitchen floor, the oven (sabotaged earlier by character a) either explodes or sets off a fire (whichever is more likely) and burns down the house. can anybody tell me how/if i can make this plausible? or do i need to rethink the whole thing? i know it's a long shot but i'm stumped! thanks in advance!

"Would get hot enough to start a fire..."

Well you could make the oven stay on simply by moving the thermostat inside the oven outside the oven. But it would be unlikely that no matter how long the oven was left on that it would get hot enough to start a fire . The actual heat output of an oven is about equal to two hair blowers running at the same time. If the door was open, it would never really get too hot in the oven and moving the t-stat wouldn't make a difference anyway. It would be more likely for a power outtage to prevent a modern heating system from working and then a gas oven causing death with CO2 in the air. Also many burners now have electric ignition so if the oven was lit (by hand) it would provide a flame to lit a gas leak from leaving a range burner on. It would make the whole house go BOOM. Gas valves don't fail, but trees do fall on power lines.

Q. Turkey vs. gas and electric oven?
hello. i'm new to this site so i ask forgiveness if this question has already been asked. i have always cooked my turkey in a gas oven. i just moved into a house that has an electric oven and have noticed that it cooks food faster. i do not want a burnt turkey on thanksgiving. what setting should i put it on and how long for a twenty pound turkey? i want it ready by one o'clock. i live in texas, so it would be central time. thanks!

"A 12lb turkey takes 3 hours..."

12-15 mins per pound. In my experience it doesnt matter whether is electric or gas. Keep in mind every time you peek at the turkey you lose 25 degrees of heat. a 12lb turkey takes 3 hours. Dont forget to let it rest 30 minutes before carving.

Q. My dogs died in a house fire about 2 weeks ago..?
my house burnt down not last thursday but the one before and my two dogs were trapped inside. they didnt make it, and it's been an emotional roller-coaster trying to put the pieces of my life back together. my question is- how quickly does one die from smoke inhalation? one of the hardest things about the fire was that they suffered, someone heard a dog crying and barking not realizing it was ours. my grandpa took them both up to his property to bury them and said they weren't burnt at all which made me a little happier but i want to know how long they did suffer before the fire took their lives. does anyone know how quickly you die from smoke inhalation? i dont know if this helps but the firemen said the whole house was up in about 3 min and that it was a very quick and demolishing electric fire... no, no one was at home when the fire started, luckily, i got the call when i was at work..so no, no one was there to save them. the neighbors heard them crying.. lindsay b- we rented, you cannot just add a doggy door to a rental i did not need your smart ass comment. i guess your dogs are perfectly safe from any unforseen disaster then right?!

"The good thing is they werent directly in the fire..."

first of all I AM SO SORRY FOR YOUR PAIN AND LOSS, ok here it is, if someone heard your dogs wimpering most likey its because the dogs themselves were trying to ALERT family members with their noise making , they also knew danger was there, as for passing away how fast, they fall alseep from the carbon monoxide poisoning, which made their death non suffering , your dogs fell asleep . I hope this helped. but how fast they fell asleep is all depends how quick they were breating the carbon monoxide. since the dogs are lower to the floor, i would guess about 5 to 10 minutes before they fell asleep, the good thing is they werent directly in the fire, i hope this helps.

Q. Could a faulty electric pole cause health problems?
my mother has been having bad headaches and a pain in her chest for the past few months. also she could smell burnt wires through out the house, the broiler on her stove stopped working, the lights would flicker on and off, and the outlet that her electric heater was plugged into melted the heater plug. yesterday the electric company came out to the house and fixed something on the pole outside not 20 min after her headache and the chest pains went away she could no longer smell the burnt wiring, and the broiler on her stove started working again. if that box on the pole (i am not sure what it is called) is faulty could it cause health and electrical problems like i just described.

"The wires in it over heat and can burn causing it to malfunction..."

The box on the pole is a transformer and it is filled with oil. The oil helps keep it cool. When the oil gets low, the wires in it over heat and can burn causing it to malfunction. ALL electrical lines emit electromagnetic frequencies that damage people. Yes, it can cause headaches. Her headache most likely was from the odors being emitted by the burn oil and wiring. That is most likely PVC or another caustic plastic that when heated emits chlorinated hydrocarbons that can cause headaches. good luck to you

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