am I the only one who doesn't leave the dryer on while not at home?

joyco

I have a load of laundry that is ready for the dryer, but I have to head out to get the boys from school shortly and I know when I get home, I'm going to forget the wet clothes for another hour while we do lunch and then naps, but I refuse to have the dryer running when no one is at home.

I had a friend whose family left their dryer running and they headed out on vacation, while they were driving to the coast, they got a phone call from Leander police saying their house had burned down.  It was determined that a spark from the dryer caused the whole thing.  So yeah, not gonna do it.  Do you?

L L CG

Yes.  I've never heard a story like that.  But, now that I have, maybe I won't.

rssnlvr

I can see why you wouldn't, but we do. In fact, it's my favorite time to do laundry because then when we get home, it's all dry and ready to be put away. I always feel like I'm uber efficient when I remember to start a dryer load on the way out the door.

Sinafey

I've never thought twice about it.  We have an electric dryer so I don't see how it's  any different than leaving the fridge plugged in.  

bobcatsteph

We leave ours on. It is important to clean out the lint thing..and clean out way down in the lint thing every once in a while.

texasbeachbride

I am paranoid about this too!  And I have never even heard a story of a house catching fire due to a dryer.  And the thing is, it's not so much a fear of my house burning down, but that it would catch fire and my dog wouldn't be able to get out

I will leave it going if I am going to be away for less than an hour, otherwise the drying waits. 

austxgrl

I also worry about this and never leave it running when not home. 

MrsJEC

I never leave the dryer on while not at home.  I know two different people who had fires start in their homes due to a dryer.  Both were very lucky that they were at home when it happened and could get help before it burned the house down.

userdeleted

I've heard of that happening too, but no one close to me.

I usually just happen to be home when it's running. But I wouldn't specifically not run it because I was leaving. 

fjaril

we *gasp* run the washer/dryer/dishwasher whatever when I'm running errands or whatever.

I'm willy nilly like that

KSandAE2008

Nope. I never run it when I am not at home.

babymillie

never ever

10-4LilBuddy

I never leave the dishwasher, dryer, or washing machine running while not at home. I've heard too many stories of dryers starting fires. I also had an upstairs apartment neighbor completely flood my apartment (and hers) when the hose of her washer came off and she was gone. Too many things that could go wrong...

AustinAggie01

I used to love to change out the laundry one more time and get things started/keep things going while I was out and about.  Then, our dryer did catch on fire maybe a year ago(?).  Thankfully, it did not burn our house down.  I have no idea how it stopped.  The dryer and two of the four walls of the laundry room were black and the whole house stunk big time.  DH was in some other state so I had no help wiping down all of the walls, ceilings, floors, washing anything in the house that I could to get rid of the smell, carting things over to the IL's to dry (since obviously I wasn't using my dryer).  What a pita (a pita that I'd gladly take over a burned down house, obvs.).  Dryer has been fixed but recently every once in a while I notice that the laundry room smells like gas.  So, not only do I not run the dryer when we are gone, I also open the laundry room door (has a separate door to the backyard) when I turn it on.  It's awesome.  Maybe someday we can get a new dryer.  With a fire extinguisher on hand and the "rules for running the dryer" established, I'm currently more concerned with getting new mattresses that don't leave me waking with a backache.  I'm probably prioritizing things innappropriately.

JayandJack

I do but I don't leave it running when I'm going to be gone for a while thought. It's usually running at night while we are asleep or I go to run an errand.

ditzydi_2000

I used to until DH told me the error of my ways and said it could potentially start a fire.  So I don't anymore.

meg120510

We only run ours when We are home.

CollieJade

Funny that you ask this today...

CollieJade

Funny that you ask this today... I just got an email the other day from our salon manager reminding everyone to get any wet towels into the dryer and start it if you are the last to leave at the end of the day so they can run overnight and are dry the next working morning. I emailed back and said I was really paranoid about the dryer running while we weren't there (particularly because of the thousands of dollars of personal equipment that we have stored there overnight), so I suggested we at least try to complete a load (wash AND dry) before we all leave for the day. Here I thought I was an insane paranoid freak!! Glad I am not the only one. I mean, I know it's not a house or anything, but I would absolutely be devastated for the salon to burn down and for all our equipment to be destroyed.

joyco

CollieJade:

Funny that you ask this today... I just got an email the other day from our salon manager reminding everyone to get any wet towels into the dryer and start it if you are the last to leave at the end of the day so they can run overnight and are dry the next working morning. I emailed back and said I was really paranoid about the dryer running while we weren't there (particularly because of the thousands of dollars of personal equipment that we have stored there overnight), so I suggested we at least try to complete a load (wash AND dry) before we all leave for the day. Here I thought I was an insane paranoid freak!! Glad I am not the only one. I mean, I know it's not a house or anything, but I would absolutely be devastated for the salon to burn down and for all our equipment to be destroyed.

Hey, I'm no insane paranoid freak.  Just a little conflicted.  That's all.

YellowUmbrella

texasbeachbride:

And the thing is, it's not so much a fear of my house burning down, but that it would catch fire and my dog wouldn't be able to get out

This is one of my biggest fears! I can't even think about it or I'll get a stomach ache. 

And to bring it full circle, if our dryer caught on fire it would probably be caused by the ridiculous amount of dog hair that gets sucked into the lint trap. I clean it out often with a brush but it still freaks me out so we're always home while it's running.

CollieJade

joyco:

CollieJade:

Funny that you ask this today... I just got an email the other day from our salon manager reminding everyone to get any wet towels into the dryer and start it if you are the last to leave at the end of the day so they can run overnight and are dry the next working morning. I emailed back and said I was really paranoid about the dryer running while we weren't there (particularly because of the thousands of dollars of personal equipment that we have stored there overnight), so I suggested we at least try to complete a load (wash AND dry) before we all leave for the day. Here I thought I was an insane paranoid freak!! Glad I am not the only one. I mean, I know it's not a house or anything, but I would absolutely be devastated for the salon to burn down and for all our equipment to be destroyed.

Hey, I'm no insane paranoid freak.  Just a little conflicted.  That's all.

haha, I guess that read kinda funny... I meant that I am glad I'm not the only one that worries about it, not that I'm glad I'm not the only insane paranoid freak! That part i'm okay with being a loner.

amyliisa

I used to think nothing of it, which is ironic because since childhood, my biggest fear is that my house would burn down.   DH is uber paranoid about it, so I don't do it anymore.  In fact, he refuses to even run it while we are sleeping, because our room is on the clear other side of the house, and he worries that if a fire started in the dryer while we were sleeping, by the time we knew about it, it would be too late to get DS and get out of the house.  (even though there are smoke alarms on both ends of the house, which are inter-connected, so if one goes off, they all go off.  He doesn't trust 'em)

He comes from a total worry-wart mother so this is just one of the completely paranoid OCD things I get to deal with on a daily basis (in addition to not wading too far into the gulf/ocean for fear of sharks or stingrays.  He's a total buzzkill.)

mlf625

I do it all the time.  I lived with my grandparents my senior year of high school and my grandpa FUH-REAKED when I did that ... but I still do.  Meh.

ETA: do you people also not run the dishwasher when you're not home?  I remember a Nestie's house burning down a few years back (and her pets dying, SOB) b/c the dishwasher started a fire. 

YellowUmbrella

mlf625:

ETA: do you people also not run the dishwasher when you're not home?  I remember a Nestie's house burning down a few years back (and her pets dying, SOB) b/c the dishwasher started a fire. 

Not usually, but we also don't use the heat dry feature. Isn't the heating element (dryers, dishwashers, etc.) what causes the fire rather than a random electrical failure?

amyliisa

mlf625:

ETA: do you people also not run the dishwasher when you're not home?  I remember a Nestie's house burning down a few years back (and her pets dying, SOB) b/c the dishwasher started a fire. 

I remember the Nestie's house burning, but I don't remember it being the dishwasher!  I don't think we've left the house w/the dishwasher running but we probably would have before I was reminded of this.  We do run it at night when we go to bed though, so with DH's logic, we need to stop doing that too.

NoVA-grl

Well not anymore...thanks a lot, Joyco!  ;-P

angelaggie

My firefighter brother said as long as your vent is clean you should be fine. That means the hose going from the dryer to outside of the house. However, people rarely have this checked or cleaned.

AustinAggie01

I empty the lint trap after every load and we clean the whole hose/vent thing 2x per year.  We have no idea what happened other than to blame it on the age of the dryer.  I'm guessing it's about 15 years old.

I run the dishwasher and leave or go to bed all of the time.  And, I use the heated dry mode.  I guess it never occurred to me not to.  I do remember about the Nestie's house, but maybe my brain considered it to be a completely random/freak accident so I wouldn't add something to my worry list.

KateAggie

I don't.  I will stop the washing machine/dryer/dishwasher if the cycle isn't complete and I have to go somewhere.  I've been through the aftermath of a fire/cleanup (in my college duplex), and it's not worth the risk (for me) to repeat that.  I also would worry about my pups.

SaraLouiseBride08

Why would you start your dryer and leave for the coast? When you get home all your clothes would be wrinkley!!

But seriously, I do this all the time. And my house has caught on fire three times in 5 years. Once from a spark in the AC (and hell yes, I run the AC while we're gone), once from a candle holder (yes, of course I was home) and once -GASP- from the dryer.

Clean your lint traps, people. Thankfully we were home when the dryer caught on fire (and then, caught the laundry room wall on fire). I didn't know I was supposed to clean the thing that went outside - I only knew about the lint trap inside the dryer. Although my mother still swears she "taught me better than that" and that I should have known to do that.

2H2L

austxgrl:

I also worry about this and never leave it running when not home. 

Me too

MnMShaw

Nope. Never.  That is one of my worst fears about my house burning down.