PLUG IN TIMER/ELECTRIC FIRE

[Fazerlass]

Could any of you kindly folk help me with this query!

Mam has dementia and often leaves the electric fire on overnight. It's an inset electric fan type (like the sort in an electric suite) put in to stop her using the coal fire which was getting way to dangerous for her to use.

I was wondering if it was safe to use a plug in timer to plug the fire into so that I can time it to go off late in the evening with a thought to this being safer than it being left on all night.

Thanks in anticipation

 

[ricicle]

The only thing to think about is that you might want one with a battery-back up because any un-plugging or power cuts would cause the timer to become out of sync. and could put the fire on at random, unexpected, times !

 

[Taylortwocities]

She may have dementia but she'll still work out that she can unplug the timer and just plug the fire straight in. This will happen the first time that she gets cold and the fire isn't on.

Suggestion:
you install a fused spur and a hard-wired timer (an immersion heater timer, perhaps).

If you only want the fire to run for a maximum of four hours then an immersion boost timer like THIS might do the trick.

Simples

 

[sparkwright]

Possibly the actual socket itself could be controlled by a hardwired timer somewhere out of view yet easy to find like at the fuseboard.

But it really could be a problem, as mentioned, if a power cut causes the timer to go out of sync and the socket becomes live at strange times of the day or night.

Not entirely sure what kind of electric fire you have, but I wonder if some kind of panel heater or storage heater could be safer.

 

[Steve]

The problem here is that the central heating system isn't correctly sized to heat the rooms.

Anything else is irrelevant. Once you've fixed the heating system, remove the fuse from the fire. Sorted.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Does the lady have central heating at all? We don't know.

Even if she has then many old folk will pop the electric fire on if they are feeling chilly. Luckily we're all under 30 on this forum

 

[ColJack]

we need more info on what this fire is, what it's used for and the location of it..

as long as it's not a 3 bar electric fire like in the old days, then as long as it's not obstructed then it shouldn't be a problem leaving it on overnight..

if you're that bothered about her safety, fit a good fire alarm / suppresion system or let her move in with you..

do you also want to fit timers to the cooker in case she leaves that on?

you could always fit a contactor controlled by the light switch in the room so that way when she leaves it and turns the light off, the fire is switched off also.. ( they do this in some hotel rooms whhere the room key is on a fob that has to be inserted near the door to turn the heating on.. )