Do you let your washer/dryer run while you're not home?

[Kim&Chris]

Just some info I thought I'd share...

My friend's cousin threw a load of wash in before leaving for work in the morning. She's done this for a long time, no problems.....until last Monday.

Apparently, she started the washer & left the house to go to work. I guess there's some type of sensor that will shut the water off when the washer's done filling? Well, this sensor apparently failed, and the water filled into her washer for about 7 hours. When she got home, she found that her washer, which is on the 2nd floor of her home, had flooded the entire upstairs, then the water broke through the ceiling & came down into her kitchen and dining room, as well as her family room. Her kitchen, and all the food contents of the cabinets, are basically destroyed. The dining room set is ruined (table, chair, and curio-type cabinet that had all her wedding photos in it - ruined - as well as baby pics of the kids). The beds in the adjacent bedrooms are probably ruined. All the drywall will probably need to be replaced, as well as flooring and much of the kitchen cabinetry. It's my understanding that the refrigerator and oven may be destroyed as well. I am guessing the furniture in the family room is probably ruined as well. Unsure if the water reached the TV.

Family members have all taken almost all of the family's clothing out of the house to re-wash & dry for them (as the bureaus in the bedrooms that had clothing in them were saturated).

They are currently living in a Holiday Inn while the insurance adjusters determine the extent of the damages. It's probably safe to say the house will need to be gutted.

So, the moral of this story is: NEVER leave the house with the washer running (or any appliance, for that matter!).

 

[Tuffcookie]

I have started my washer as I'm going out the door but it is never wise to leave the dryer unattended. I didn't know you could flood your house. Maybe I'll have to stop doing that too!

TC

 

[lucas]

I never leave either running while we're not at home.

 

[Beca]

I do this as well, even though there are dangers. About 25 years ago, my grandmother put a load of clothes in the dryer and left the home. Something sparked somewhere in the motor of the dryer, and caught the residual lint in the dryer hose on fire. It just went downhill from there.

I remember my mom telling me to NEVER leave the washer or dryer running when I am not home. And yet....I do it ALL the time!!

 

[TerriP]

Never ever ever...I'm religous about turning them off before I go anywhere (even to bed since, technically, I won't be able to see if anything goes wrong). I also don't use the dishwasher when I'm not home/awake to keep an eye on it...there's the same potential for water damage if that breaks.

I have three dogs that are left alone when we're not home. The thought of an appliance catching fire when they are there alone is all it takes to remind me never to leave anything on. I obviously can't protect my dogs/home/belongings from everything, but turning off my appliances before I leave the house is one way to help.

 

[bookgirl]

Nope I turn everything off when I leave.


PS we've had the water shutoff go out as well luckily we were home, and the water was contained to the kitchen (where the laundry area is) and the den both of which are tiled. But it was a rude awakening for me as I was asleep when my mom started screaming (she had gone to shower and came back to an inch or two of water everywhere).

 

[sunlver]

Ive been married for almost 16 yrs, and do it all the time. I mean its not something I do each and everyday.But..if its laundry day, and I have errands to do, I dont think twice about having washer and dryer going

 

[WDWLVR]

I make sure they are both off before heading out the door. Same with the dishwasher. Better safe than sorry.

 

[cepmom]

I used to, but after my mother's house fire last summer, I stopped leaving anything running when we're sleeping or not home. Very scary stuff!

 

[DVC-Don]

Nope, never ever. I went to too many house fires due to dryers running when no one was home. Most people don't clean or replace their vent pipes (I just replaced mine last week and it was 1/3 blocked with lint. It was only 3 years old.)

 

[DarthKTrava]

I've left them on occasionally when I leave the house. Usually when I go off to work and put a load of laundry in to wash.

 

[piglet too]

I always turn off the dryer, but never thought twice about the washer. However, we have a portable dishwasher, and I never leave that running if we are going out or even going to bed. (DS14 does not always make sure the drain is clear and we have had the water overflow in the sink)

 

[Angelhalo]

I sometimes leave the washer going but never ever ever the dryer. DH laughs at me for turning the dryer off but I was just raised to never leave the dryer running when you leave the house or are sleeping as it can catch on fire.

 

[KellyMae]

Nope.

Washer, dryer and dishwasher are all off when I'm not there. Too scared of what could happen.

 

[luvmy3]

washer- yes
dryer- no

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

No, I never leave either running while I'm not home. The cut off sensor stuck twice on my last washer, flooding my laundry room and kitchen/dining room before I realized what was happening. It was a horrible mess, with water running underneath the baseboards into several rooms. I managed to shop vac the water out before any serious damage was done, but I can only imagine how horrible it would have been if I hadn't been home when it happened. I bought a new washer, hoping it never happens again. But I am not willing to risk it flooding my house when I'm not home.

I had never thought about the dishwasher. I go to bed with it running every other night! That will change now, I think.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I've had some things happen that make me not do it.

Once, when I was home, a hose burst while the washing machine was filling. Luckily I discovered it, but not before our whole famly room had flooded.

A couple of years ago, I went out and left the gas dryer running. My mother lives in an in-law apt, fortunately, and heard our smoke detector going off. She went to the laundry area and smelled something burning, so she shut the dryer off. If she hadn't, I believe we would have had a fire, as we later found a layer of lint in the bottom of the dryer had been burned and blackened. So now I don't use the dryer unless I'm there to watch it (that includes going to sleep).

Years ago, my mother went away for the weekend and left her dryer on. She returned on Tuesday to find the dryer still running. The clothes inside were in tatters. It was a miracle there was no fire.

 

[agnes!]

I had a friend whose washer hoses partially failed when she was doing some laundry & she wasn't there to shut off the water - what a mess. That's the main reason I had our hoses changed out recently. If the hoses on your washer are more than maybe five years old, you should probably consider getting new ones put in. It's cheaper than replacing everything in the vicinity of the washer or having ServiceMaster come in and do disaster clean-up.

Which reminds me....I should have the dishwasher looked at too.

agnes!
PS - I had heard about dryer lint catching fire before - that would be horrible.

 

[NMAmy]

Oh, those poor people! What a horrible thing to happen.

Thank you for posting this. I'm a bit weird about leaving anything running when I'm gone (I won't even use a crockpot if I'm not home) but I hadn't thought of the washer and I do sometimes leave when it's running--but never the dryer. Ours is in the basement so the damage wouldn't be quite so extensive but it would still cause a lot of havoc.

 

[newtodis]

DH is a firefighter and I work at the fire department. We both know it's not a good idea. Occassionaly I'll leave (or go to bed) with them running. We don't make it common practice but occassionaly we will.

When I was pregnant with DS4, I was at DH's house doing laundry (baby clothes from the baby shower) and had to run an errand. DH was at the fire station handing out smoke detectors that day. Didn't think much of it honestly - was more thinking that I'd get the running done and have clothes to fold when I got home. Came back to DH's house full of smoke. Called DH who said it wasn't a big deal. That answer wasn't good enough for me so I drove to the fire station. (gotta love when the crazy pregnant girlfriend shows up at your fire station!) The guys came over with the truck and the wall behind the dryer was still on fire inside the wall - you would not have seen it from looking at the wall itself. It was caused from old wiring (something happened to the plug and the breaker shut the power off). The scariest part was that the baby's room was right on the other side of the wall and had that happened once I'd had the baby - it could have been a very bad thing!

Exercise caution! It's amazing what can cause accidents.