--- title: "Fire, gas and water safety — Appliance Guides" description: "The hazards that routine upkeep exists to prevent: lint packed into an exhaust run, a gas smell at a cooking appliance, carbon monoxide, a supply hose that…" url: "https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/safety-and-food/" --- Lint fires, gas at the burners, hoses and wiring # Fire, gas and water safety guides. The hazards that routine upkeep exists to prevent: lint packed into an exhaust run, a gas smell at a cooking appliance, carbon monoxide, a supply hose that bursts, and the burning smell or tripping breaker that means stop. ## Fire, gas and water safety, guide by guide. Three hazards live inside ordinary home appliances: heat and lint in the laundry exhaust path, gas and carbon monoxide at the burners, and water under constant pressure in every supply hose. This section covers the upkeep that keeps each one rare, and the first moves to make when one of them turns up anyway. [All 18 guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/) 5-minute read ### [Lint, exhaust runs and fire risk behind the laundry closet](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/lint-exhaust-runs-and-fire-risk/) The screen catches most of the lint and the duct collects the rest. How long a run may be, what it should be made of, and how to tell it is choking before it overheats. 5-minute read ### [Supply hoses and slow leaks: the lines that feed four appliances](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/supply-hoses-and-slow-leaks/) A fill hose gives no warning when it lets go, but it usually shows wear for months first. What to look at, when to replace it, and what to do the day one drips. 5-minute read ### [Gas burners and carbon monoxide: flame, air and the alarm](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/gas-burners-and-carbon-monoxide/) A clean, well-adjusted burner makes little carbon monoxide and a neglected one makes more. The flame colors to know, the alarms to install and the jobs an owner leaves alone. ## Lint fires, gas at the burners, hoses and wiring. The order of moves comes before any talk of maintenance. A hot lint smell means stopping the cycle, unplugging the machine and leaving it off until the exhaust is cleared. A gas odor means turning off the burners, lighting nothing, touching no switches, opening windows, leaving, and calling the gas utility or 911 from outside. A leaking hose means closing its valve, staying clear of wet outlets and cutting the circuit from a dry panel. The guidance draws on the US Fire Administration, NFPA, CPSC, CDC and EPA, and on the installation and care manuals the makers publish. Each guide links its sources beside the claims they support, so a reader can check a duct length, a flame color or a hose interval against the original page. Every guide in this section also marks the owner's limit. An owner may close a valve in an emergency, clean a lint screen or clear burner ports; an owner does not open a gas fitting, reroute a duct through a wall, work inside a cabinet over live wiring or relight a system after a leak. Those belong to a technician or the gas utility. [Not sure where to start?](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Lint, exhaust runs and fire risk behind the laundry closet Dryer vent fire risk rises when lint narrows the exhaust run: airflow falls, heat builds and the fluff can ignite. ### The short answer Supply hoses and slow leaks: the lines that feed four appliances Appliance water supply hoses feed the laundry machine, the dish care machine and any refrigerator or ice maker with a water line, and all of them stay under house pressure around the clock. ### The short answer Gas burners and carbon monoxide: flame, air and the alarm Gas appliances and carbon monoxide go together because burning gas makes some CO, and EPA measures more of it near poorly adjusted stoves than near well-adjusted ones. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What services cost](https://appliancemaintenance.center/cost/) 1. 01 A walk around the house first 2. 02 Cleaned, checked and adjusted 3. 03 Wear parts before they fail 4. 04 A service record for the house ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://appliancemaintenance.center/problems/) Fire, gas, water or wiring risk ### Hot or Burning Lint Smell in the Laundry Room: Stop the Cycle 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Laundry Taking Two Cycles to Dry: The Lint Path Is Usually Why 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Appliance Energy Use Creeping Up With Nothing Else Changed 6 causes, cheapest first Fire, gas, water or wiring risk ### Supply Hose Leaking or Bulging Behind an Appliance: Shut the Water Off 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about fire, gas and water safety. ### What should every household know before anything goes wrong? Where each appliance's water and gas shutoffs are, which breaker feeds which appliance, and that a gas odor is dealt with by leaving the house, not by searching for the source. ### Are carbon monoxide alarms part of appliance upkeep? Yes. CPSC recommends alarms on every level and outside sleeping areas, and they are the only warning of a burner or vent problem that has no smell. ### Is a lint smell an emergency or a maintenance reminder? Treat a hot or burning lint smell as an emergency: stop the cycle and unplug the machine. Slow drying without any smell is the maintenance reminder, and the time to book the exhaust cleaning. ### When is water damage from an appliance more than a mop job? When water has run under flooring or into a cabinet. EPA advises drying soaked areas within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold, and a leak from inside the appliance needs a technician. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/) What slow wear looks like before it becomes a breakdown ### [Signs an appliance is due](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Signs an appliance is overdue for service: time, sound, water and the calendar](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/signs-an-appliance-is-overdue-for-service/) - [Why appliances lose efficiency with age, and how much of it upkeep wins back](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/why-appliances-lose-efficiency-with-age/) - [What skipped upkeep turns into: five small jobs and the repairs behind them](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/what-skipped-upkeep-turns-into/) Ten-minute tasks with the appliance unplugged ### [Checks between visits](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Ten-minute checks between maintenance visits, one appliance group at a time](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/ten-minute-checks-between-visits/) - [Reminder lights and clean codes: when the display is asking for upkeep](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/reminder-lights-and-clean-codes/) - [Model and serial numbers: starting a service record for every appliance at home](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/model-and-serial-for-a-service-record/) What is due when, across the whole house ### [Routines and schedules](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [A yearly upkeep calendar for the whole home, job by job](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/a-yearly-upkeep-calendar-for-the-home/) - [Filters and when each one is due, from the ice line to the hood](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/filters-and-when-each-one-is-due/) - [Hard water scale and what it wears out, part by part](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/hard-water-scale-and-what-it-wears/) A yearly plan, a visit when due, or a new appliance ### [Plans, visits and replacement](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [A service plan or one-off visits: matching upkeep to the appliances you own](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/a-service-plan-or-one-off-visits/) - [Keep maintaining or replace: when upkeep stops paying on an aging appliance](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/keep-maintaining-or-replace/) - [What a maintenance visit covers, part by part across the home](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/what-a-maintenance-visit-covers/) Clearances, shutoffs and leveling that make service easy ### [Set up for easy upkeep](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [Clearances that leave room for service, and why tight fits cost later](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/clearances-that-leave-room-for-service/) - [Shutoff valves every appliance needs, and where each one hides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/shutoff-valves-every-appliance-needs/) - [Leveling and airflow after a move: resetting each appliance](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/leveling-and-airflow-after-a-move/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Fire, gas and water safety — Appliance Guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/safety-and-food/)** **[Book a visit with ApplianceMaintenance.center](https://appliancemaintenance.center/schedule/)**