Day to day we go home thinking we’re in a safe environment, falling restfully asleep completely ignorant of the dangers electrical devices pose in the spaces we use. Yes, health and safety regulation reassure us, but the reality is that most homes contain one or more of: unsafe electrical devices, dangerous electrical installations, or badly judged electrical practices.
Electrical fire risk is invisible and unpredictable, posing a serious threat to homes and lives. The statistics are alarming as the UK continues to see thousands of electrical fires in home and business every year – pointing to a gap between perceived safety, and reality.
In the UK, 1 in 4 fires are caused by electrical faults and they remain one of the leading causes of fire in both homes and businesses. In 2022/23, over 5,800 house fires in England were caused by electrical issues, including wiring and appliances. For businesses, a three-year analysis revealed 4,634 electrical fire callouts, many linked to faulty equipment and installations.
These fires are not only dangerous, but often preventable.
That’s more than just a set of stats – it’s a wake-up call.
What causes most electrical fires in the UK?
Faulty appliances, poor wiring, overloaded sockets, and arc faults are among the leading causes of electrical fires. Many of these risks are hidden or ignored – but they can be prevented with the right knowledge, inspections, and proactive technologies.
By the time the smoke alarm goes off, assuming the family even has one, it’s too late. The fire has already begun. The danger is so great that, when we get visitors at Ci who are new to electrical safety, we prioritise running them through a home fire safety checklist.
It prompts people to conduct their own long overdue safety audit to find and fix unsafe electrics. Things get unplugged, frayed charging cables get thrown out, and a lot of devices that used to be left to run overnight get switched off instead.
These are all common causes of deadly fires. This blog will help you give your own home or any residential or commercial space you’re responsible for a long, hard electrical fire and safety audit. It will empower you to act and install the measures and devices that prevent life-threatening electrical fires.
Invisible electrical fire risks
It’s easy to assume homes are safe when everything looks fine: nothing glows red, nothing fizzes with alarm. But electrical fire hazards do not always come with warnings. Take an arc fault as a prime example, a dangerous fire that could be quietly building.
An arc fault is an unintentional high-power discharge that occurs when electricity jumps between conductors due to a breakdown in insulation or a gap in the circuit. It’s essentially electricity leaping through the air, creating a visible arc – hence the name.
It results in very high temperatures that can ignite surrounding material, such as insulation, to ignite a fire. Arc faults are very difficult to detect until temperatures are so high that a fire has already started.
Yes, the device might shut off or the breaker might trip – potentially saving you from a fire. But if neither happens, an arc fault can build silently within an electrical device, unnoticed until it’s too late. Unless someone’s nearby to act fast, the consequences can be devastating.
Everyday dangers to check for
At Ci experience taught us that there’s a whole litany of things that can go wrong with electrical safety and that it’s rare that a home operates with no fire safety risk.
Some of it is just bad practice: hiring a mate to fix the electricity box or plugging too many appliances into a socket are no-no’s that most of us would avoid (but not everyone does).
Nonetheless, DIY electric fixes remain popular, despite an Electrical Safety First survey finding that DIY repairs cause half of electrical shocks at home.
Other mistakes aren’t that obvious, like leaving an electric heater unattended or buying a dangerous knock-off charger because Apple’s charger looks expensive.
The following is a list of common culprits behind serious electrical fires that you might not think about – and should check your property for as soon as you get the chance:
• Overloaded sockets: When a socket draws more current than it’s designed to handle, it can overheat – and that heat buildup can easily lead to fire. Overheating and overcurrent are really just two sides of the same dangerous coin. Multi-socket adaptors are especially risky because people often plug in multiple high-wattage devices without considering the total load. It gets even more hazardous when extension cords are daisy-chained together, massively exceeding what the socket can safely handle.
• Cheap products: Knock-off chargers and counterfeit products might save you a few quid, but they often sidestep safety regulations – and some importers mislabel them to appear legitimate. The same goes for cheap extension leads and fake surge protectors. Electrical products are not the place to cut corners – saving a couple of pounds could end up costing you your home.
• Old or amateur wiring: Bad wiring won’t give you a warning before it goes up in flames. It’s extremely dangerous to let anyone other than a qualified electrician work on electrical panels. Always have an expert inspect old wiring to ensure your electrics are safe and up to standard.
• Damaged cords: Worn, frayed, or cracked cords can expose live wires, leading to shocks or fires. Always check cords that you’ve used for a long time. Especially where these are in spaces with movement or foot traffic. Also avoid running cords under rugs where they can overheat.
• Light fixtures and bulbs: Bulbs with higher wattage than the fixture’s rating can cause overheating, and placing flammable materials too close to light fixtures creates a fire hazard. Worn, faulty light switches pose a high risk for fire too. That’s one reason why, in suspected gas leak emergencies, the first thing a firefighter will do is tell residents not to switch on any lights.
• Dust and lint: Dust and lint can build up in electrical panels, outlets, and appliances – creating a serious fire hazard, as these materials are highly combustible. Dryer lint, in particular, is a common and often overlooked risk.
• Portable heaters and kettles: These high-wattage devices can easily overload a circuit, causing a fire. Heaters are often left running for hours – sometimes overnight or while people are out – which gives any fault or overheating problem time to escalate into a full-blown fire. Space heaters should be kept clear from anything flammable – and never daisy-chain multiple units on a single extension strip: plug it straight into the wall instead. The same goes for kettles.
• Big appliances: We commonly see how fridges and freezers running 24/7 are overlooked as a risk, but the hazard is substantial because these appliances commonly run when no one is around. Loose wiring or bad ventilation are two causes of overheating that leads to fires. Cookers and ovens need good ventilation too because of the sheer level of heat generated.
Did some of the above come as a surprise to you? You’re not alone. Each of these risks could be present in your own home – and every one of them has the potential to put your family’s safety in serious danger.
How do I know if my home is at risk of an electrical fire?
Look for warning signs like frequently tripping circuits, flickering lights, burning smells, damaged cords, or discoloured outlets.
But not all risks are visible – outdated wiring, overloaded sockets, or hidden arc faults can go undetected. A professional inspection and smart fire prevention devices are the safest way to identify and stop these dangers.
If you or your business manages a space such as an office, hotel, or block of flats, the safety responsibility ultimately rests with you – and you may well be putting many people at risk by ignoring these common electrical safety issues.
Are safety systems failing us?
Homeowners are often too confident that they’ll get a warning – or that electrical safety systems will ‘work as they’re supposed to.’ But that’s a dangerous assumption. These systems do sometimes work as expected – but often only once the fire has already started, leaving little time to act. Worse, they sometimes fail entirely, offering no warning at all.
Take a fire detector, for example. With nobody home and a big lock on the door, who exactly will respond to the fire alert and stop the fire from escalating? Even if you are at home, what if it’s a large electrical fire and you don’t have a Class C electrical fire extinguisher handy?
There’s also the usual pattern – developers cutting corners, chasing savings over safety, and doing just enough to tick a compliance box. We’ve seen where that ends. The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, started with a faulty fridge-freezer – but it was the cost-cutting on fire-resistant materials, poor design, and a total lack of accountability that turned it into a national tragedy. That wasn’t an isolated case – The Grenfell Inquiry exposed how dangerously far behind the system really is.
The electrical environment has changed faster than regulation can keep up. Today, homes are filled with cheap chargers, battery packs and counterfeit devices that were never built to meet proper safety standards. And the safety net? It’s full of holes. Enforcement is weak. Even when inspections are legally required – like in rental properties – the penalties for ignoring them are next to nothing. No real consequences until someone gets hurt or a building goes up in flames.
Strategies to protect your home
You can’t rely on warning systems alone to keep a space safe. Fire prevention starts long before any alarm sounds. That’s why homeowners, landlords, and building managers must take proactive steps, using the right knowledge, habits, and technology to stop electrical fires before they start. Here’s where to begin:
• Regular inspections: Inspections by professionals can’t catch all the risks, but electrical safety experts know what to look out for and will catch many, if not all, the common risks we commonly see property owners ignore.
• Frequent care: Electrical systems and appliances need regular attention to stay safe. Clean lint traps in dryers, replace damaged or frayed cords, and keep the areas around appliances clear of dust and clutter. Routine upkeep like this can prevent small faults from turning into serious fire risks.
• Occupant education: With so many hidden electrical risks in our homes and buildings, mistakes are easy to make. That’s why ongoing education is essential. Property managers, landlords, housing providers, and even manufacturers have a role to play in reinforcing safe practices – helping homeowners, tenants, and building occupants stay aware, informed, and proactive.
• Safety smart sockets and sensors: Advanced sockets, like our range at Ci, detect critical electrical faults – including arc flares and overloaded circuits – and automatically shut off power before heat can build and ignite a fire. They also catch faults in appliances and can even detect water leaks before moisture reaches live electrical components, isolating the circuit to prevent short circuits, equipment damage, and potential fire hazards.
The problem is, today’s fire safety regulations are still focused on what happens after a fire has started – alarms, evacuation plans, damage control. That’s reactive. What we actually need is a shift to prevention – stopping electrical fires before they begin. That’s where new technology, like safety smart sockets and sensors, changes everything. It gives us a real chance to act before a single spark becomes a catastrophe. Prevention, not reaction – that’s the future of fire safety.
What to do in case of an electrical fire
If the worst does happen and an electrical fire breaks out your first step should be to try and prevent it from escalating. Disconnect the power source if it is safe to do so. Unplug the appliance if you can, or head for the circuit breaker and switch it off.
Never try to put out an electrical fire with water – it can conduct electricity and make the situation far more dangerous. Be aware that some fire extinguishers are water or foam based, which can have the same effect. Instead, use a Class C fire extinguisher, which releases CO₂ or dry powder to safely cut off the fire’s energy source without risking electrocution.
A small fire can be smothered with baking soda, but don’t use flour as it is flammable. Alternatively, for small fires, try to remove the oxygen source with a non-flammable material such as a fire blanket.
You may not be able to control the fire in which case you must evacuate immediately, closing doors behind you to help contain the fire. Call emergency services for assistance right away.
Electrical safety is a proactive choice
Electrical safety is a choice – so why are we still taking the risk?
Let’s be honest, there’s a lot to think about. You can’t expect a homeowner to know what a qualified electrician knows. Common sense helps, but it only goes so far. In our experience, even the most safety-conscious people miss things. The risks are real – and they’re easy to overlook until it’s too late.
But you can act now. Book an inspection if you haven’t had one in a while. Go through the checklist in this blog. And consider installing safety smart sockets that catch the dangers you can’t see – and stop fires before they start.
Whatever you do, don’t treat electrical fire safety as optional. And don’t wait until you ‘have time’ to deal with it. No one ever thinks it’ll happen to them. But most fire victims made the same mistake – they assumed there was no real risk. Until their home was gone.
This is about prevention, not reaction. Electrical safety demands urgent, proactive action – backed by technology that’s ready to respond before disaster strikes.
