Taipei City Fire Department

      Since the lockdown restrictions of Covid-19 are announced, the times that people stay homes and use electronic devices are increasing because of the unbearable hot weather. Taipei City Fire Department stated that since the implementation of new fire classification in 2015, cooking has been in the first place among all the fire causes, followed by electric fires. However, last month (June 2021), electric fires surpass cooking fires, becoming the top-ranked fire cause.
      Fire Department indicate that the most common reason for cooking fires used to be “got out and forget cooking”. Yet, people stay home longer than before during the lockdown, the incidents of cooking fires caused by personnel going out have greatly reduced. When cooking, one should be attentive of the fire source and avoid any distractions. If one needs to leave due to an urgent matter, immediately turn off the fire source. When simmering for an extended period, it is recommended to set up an alarm as a reminder to prevent a disaster.
      Based on the fire statistics, there were 50 electric fire cases last month (June 2021), of which 24 were home appliances. One third of the home appliances were air conditioners. Further analysis of 198 air conditioner fires in recent 5 years, including 101 multi split outdoor condensers, 43 multi split indoor AC unit, 26 window type air conditioners, 14 central air conditioning systems, and 14 others.
      Fire Department encourage people to follow the top air conditioners safety rules.

1. Clean and maintain regularly: The filter should be cleaned regularly. The condenser, evaporator and circuit board should be cleaned and maintained by professionals to avoid accumulation of dust or insect corpses, resulting in short circuits and fires.
2. Mind the abnormal signs: If there are signs like the air is not cold enough, burnt odor, abnormal running sound, etc., they should be check immediately and handled properly.
3. Power off for maintenance: When air conditioners are not working, stop the operation immediately, turn off (unplug) the power supply, and have a professional maintenance service personnel to check and repair.
4. Choose a safe installation environment: Since the multi split outdoor condensers are installed outdoor, the ventilation of the installation site should be noticed. Poor heat dissipation may lead to power consumption of the air conditioners and insulation deterioration of electrical parts.
5. Precautions in changing seasons: The air conditioners are seasonal appliances. The power supply should be turned off (unplugged) when not in use, and clean and inspection before use. This is to avoid the danger caused by dust accumulation or malfunction.

During the pandemic lockdown, air conditioner often runs a longer time or even overnight. Only by developing good habits can the fire cases be reduced.