Home heating safety survey

As Australia shivers through the depths of winter, it can be tempting to crank the heater and get an electric blanket for the bed if you don’t have one already. But are we staying vigilant when it comes to warming our homes?

Home and contents insurance comparison service iSelect has surveyed over 1,000 Australians to see how often we leave heaters and other devices on, and for how long.

Here are the findings.

Almost 30% of Australians leave electric blankets unattended

While 50% of Aussies said they don’t have an electric blanket, 29% of respondents admitted to leaving an electric blanket unsupervised so it could warm up, though the amount of time they left it alone differed. Of that 29%, 9% said it was for more than an hour, and another 9% left them for just under an hour.

What other devices do people leave on or unattended?

There’s all manner of devices that can heat up, and leaving some of these unattended is a definite fire risk. ‘Leaving the stove on’ is not just a phrase; it’s a statistical possibility, with 17% of Australians sometimes leaving the oven on, and 16% leaving the stovetop on by mistake.

Other common devices that people might leave on without realising include heaters at 13% and air fryers at 12%.

How common is it to leave appliances on accidentally?

Thankfully, it isn’t often that people leave heating devices on by accident, with 44% saying they did it once or twice in the past year, followed by 17% who had done it three to five times, and 10% who needed both hands to count the number of times they’d left a heated appliance or item unattended.

The survey also revealed that 14% had never left an appliance on and unattended over the last year, while 5% had done it more than 10 times, and 2% did it at least once a month.

Unattended appliances cause fire incidents for almost a quarter of Australians

When asked whether their appliances had ever led to a fire or an incident, 3% of survey respondents said that it caused a small fire! A further 13% said they had smelled something burn, while 7% had the appliance overheat.

Thankfully, the majority of Australians hadn’t experienced any kind of safety incident, with 76% saying they’d had no issues.

Interestingly, at a state level, South Australia had the highest rate of small fires at 4.1%, but Western Australia had the highest rate of burning smells at 14.2%.

How often do we test smoke alarms?

Smoke alarms are a critical piece of safety technology that can help give advance warning if a fire starts in the house. It’s important to test them to ensure they’re working properly. When asked how often they test their smoke alarms, 38% said they test their smoke alarms once a year, while 26% did it every six months.

Perhaps concerningly, 13% said they don’t remember the last time they tested their smoke alarms, and nearly one-in-ten (8%) never do it.