We might just be the most paranoid person when it comes to remembering whether or not we've turned off the stove, heater, iron, etc. We will spare the really embarrassing story of calling the fire department when we thought our oven was on fire (and it definitely wasn't). But all humiliating stories aside, we always fret once we leave the house that we've left some hot appliance on and our house will surely turn into a fiery inferno and not be there when we return. Over the years, we've come up with a few things to do to keep your sanity and your house safe. A few tips for how to remember if you've turned off the stove, heater, iron, etc., after the jump.
- We read about this somewhere a few years back and it actually works--Clap your hands once when you've turned the appliance off. You're more likely to remember the clapping than the actual process of turning the iron or stove off.
- Saying it out loud. When you turn the oven off, say out loud, "The oven is turned off, or I've turned off the oven." Your roommate might think you've gone crazy but at least your sanity will be in check for the rest of the day.
- Checklist. The checklist can live in your head but basically, before you leave your house, you'll want to scan each room and check each large appliance that would be considered dangerous if it was left on. Even if you didn't use those appliances that day, you'd have peace of mind that your apartment was safe.
- Labeling the appliance. The label could read; turn off when finished, turn off or fire will ensue... you get the picture. A label acts as a reminder for when you're in a hurry or on the phone and is one more step that will help ensure that the appliance gets turned off.
- Give neighbors a key to your house. Every apartment we've ever lived in, our neighbors have had a key to our place. That way, if you haven't incorporated any preventative measures, you can call them and ask them to check up on your place to make sure that you've turned off the stove.
How do you remember if you've turned the stove off?
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I always shut off the burner just *before* removing the pan or stockpot (and turn off the oven right before removing something that I've confirmed is done baking). It works for me.
Also, because I'm paranoid, on days when I've used the stove or oven I always check to make sure it's off before leaving the house or going to bed.
If you have to leave the kitchen while a burner is on (sometimes you have to let things heat a while), keep a dishtowel in your hand. It will remind you there's something going on in the kitchen!
This is like my anxious dad who has driven several miles to work and gone all the way back just to make sure he locked the front door.
I have the nose that knows. I've never met a person who can smell natural gas like I can.
A CO monitor is a good idea for those with gas stoves, ovens, furnaces, etc.
Funnily enough, I use auditory memory... So I remember that I have done things by the sound they make when I do them (ie: the subtle click when you turn the oven know all the way and let go, the loud click when you turn your gas tank cover too much, the sound of the front door locking). However, if it doesn't make a noise, I won't remember it past a few minutes.
I'm with both Stiletto and nashdp. I've never left anything on, simply because I check before leaving or going to sleep.
Just take a quick scan. Maybe you just can't be in that much of a hurry to get to where you're going. "Be where you are" has always been a good rule of thumb. :)
*oven knob
I do exactly what Stiletto does--turning off gas before removing item from stove or oven AND checking before I leave the house or go to bed if I used it earlier in the day.
I set a timer if I have something on the stove for awhile like homemade soup so I won't forget. It has been more than once that I hear the beep and think, "Oh God, I forgot I'm making soup."
I worry about the iron, one of those high powered steam generating mega irons, which lives behind a closed door. A light over the ironing board that gets turned on and off with the iron. I can see at a glance if I've left the iron on. Many newer irons have an auto shut-off feature because so many people worry.
I'm horrible with this. In all our rentals, we've had old stoves and for some reason, I have a knack for leaving them on OR turning on the wrong one. I've nearly started several fires this way. Thankfully, I've learned that I'm very visual, so if I think "Ok, I can see that it's off now" and double check, I'll remember later that I did turn it off.
I have major major major OCD over the fear of leaving the stove on. I check the stove knobs, double check them, triple check, quadruple check, on and on and on for the next five minutes, to make sure that I turned them off when I leave the house, for fear the house will burn down while I'm out. It's really bad, and a few of my friends have said there is actually medication that might help me deal with this.
On a slightly humorous note related to this (because I can laugh at myself) - when I was living in San Diego, me and my friends would drive to Vegas twice a year. And every single time, when we hit the Nevada border, one of my friends would say, "Ommigod, David, I don't think you checked the stove knobs!" So, for the next 30 mins, I'm like a total mess.
i have some issues, too - i fret over whether i locked the door or turned off the stove. of course, i have NEVER gone back to see my door unlocked or stove still on! ha!
but i have made it a rule to always unplug the toaster oven and coffee maker after each use. and with the stove, i always touch the knobs to make sure they're all the way off. with the front door locking, i usually hold onto my keys until i get to the elevator, as a small reminder.
my sister used to freak out that she accidentally got the cat's tail stuck in the door...no shit! she'd have to run back upstairs to check.
as if the cat would be, uh, silent about it?? hahah
we're all so weird! love it!
I'm all for saying things out loud! I learned this from an old boyfriend who always used to say it when he locked up his car. At first I thought he was nuts, but it has saved me many times from returning to my workplace to ensure I've locked up for the night! Apparently I'm more convinced by a memory of saying aloud that I did something, than a memory of the actions.
I don't mean to sound obtuse...
....but if you did leave the stove on - other than wasting electricity, what would it matter?
It's not like something flammable can suddenly jump onto the stove all by itself and set the place on fire...
My husband and I live with two cats. No children but yet we have the childproof knob covers on our stove. Why, you may ask? Because we woke up at 3am to the clicking sound of the gas stove burner being turned on. One of our cats must have hit the knob just right and turned it on. So the knob covers are on there to help me with the constant worry of this happening while we are out and not 3am when we could take care of it right away.
ya, i do the ol' "unplugged, unplugged, unplugged" in a singing voice. that way i cant forget how silly i sound but feel safer leaving the house. gosh, i feel so much more sane knowing im not the only one who has these "rituals" for remembering whether or not they unplugged, or turned off that flat iron. phew!
My first apartments were very tiny with no exhaust fans - which meant cooking odors on clothes and furniture.
When I fixed the kitchen GFCIs in my first house, I installed an exhaust fan. I use the fan as a signal that the stove is in use.
When I moved to DC from San Diego in 2001 (see earlier comment above), I was renting an apartment in Adams Morgan for one year. During that one year, I didn't use the stove once. But a few days after I moved in, I was in the kitchen and I happened to touch the top of the gas (old) stove. It felt warm to the touch, which was odd since the knobs were all turned off.
So, I lifted the top of the stove and noticed this pilot light burning. I was, like, this is unsafe! And I blew the pilot light out. Then subsequently went out bar hopping that night. I told friends what had just happened, and they were, like, "Stupid, go home now and relight that thing or else your entire apartment complex could blow up! And don't light a cigarette in your apartment until you open the windows and air it out!"
For reasons above, I will only purchase electric stoves only, even though my partner and I have, over the past five years, become avid, and quite good, cooks. (Oh, and it freaks me out when people leave mail on their stoves.)
-OCD David
I have a terrible sense of smell, and once accidentally left a knob on the stove slightly on - no flame, but a slow gas leak. I started feeling quite ill and didn't know why. I laid down for a nap, and when my roommate came home she immediately ordered me to get out of the house while it aired out because she could smell what I couldn't. Whoops!
Years ago, I went to Italy on a ten day trip, and before I left I ironed some clothes, and I left the iron on "low" for 10 days! Thank goodness nothing happened - but after that, to this day, I'm always wondering if I left something on. I've gone home from work, to double check & find nothing was left on, (2 hr roundtrip, boss not too happy). Now that I have 2 dogs at home, I am especially concerned. I will definitely use these tips!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who worries about this stuff.
I unplug the coffee pot and toaster oven much to the frustration of my BF and amusement of past roommates.
I normally do something I refer to as "the rounds" before leaving or going to bed. Check all door locks, appliances off, oven/stove cold, water for pets, etc. I've done this for many years and actually caught 2 roommates and my mother once leaving a stove burner on (electric, not gas). Since I have a bloodhound's sense of smell, I find having a gas stove and oven nice since I can always tell if the gas in on. The blue flame on the burners is also hard to miss.
Knowing that I'm completely OCD about these things and that I do the rounds before leaving is what keeps me from running back to check over and over again. That said, I have been known to occasionally go back and check the front door lock after getting in the car... but rarely after leaving the driveway. :)
My father is incapable of turning the stove off, no matter how many notes we post or how many times my mother reminds him. It drives her nuts and is obviously a huge problem.
I thought I started seeing early signs of Alzheimer but what a relief to see that I am not the only one who is paranoid about that stuff!
I went through an 8 hour flight once trying to remember if I had turned off the stove or not...what a nightmare!
Of course I had.
I try to wash up immediately after a meal, or at least make sure that there aren't any pots on the stove and that it is completely turned off. I've left dishes on simmer (or accidentally bumped knobs to high) right before sitting down to eat, only to find smokey messes an hour or more later.
Hoo boy. I always shut everything off but my husband *must* check everything before we leave for work. It's not that I'd mind him checking, it's that he only thinks of it *after* we leave the apt.
Same thing with locking the door. He'll wiggle it for about thirty seconds, ask me to check, wiggle it some more, and then ask me to check again.
Going on long trips is the worst. He'll ask me at least five times if we locked the door. I'm nice for the first three times. Then I start shreiking. Once he actually videotaped himself locking the door. I about died laughing, but hey! It made him stop asking! So thanks for these tips, maybe if I clap, he'll remember.
bepsf--You're right, nothing would happen.But worrying about stuff counts as organization for the purposes of AT:LA.
Actually, worrying counts as action for a large portion of the population.
Our coffee maker and iron have the auto-turn-off, great peace of mind.
For our country place--where we have a scary restaurant range with zero safety features (knobs turns easily, no clicking or resistance), and have to remember to take the trash and turn the water off, etc. we have a little post-it mnemonic by the door:
How (heat)
we (water)
love (lights)
our (oven)
magic (mouse traps)
time (trash)
away!
So we say it out loud before we leave to make sure we did everything.
Thank you. I spent $25 on a taxi last month to go home during the first hour of work and check that I'd unplugged my flat iron. Of course I'd already unplugged it but I needed to see it and be sure! That offense to my wallet has done wonders in helping my appliance unplugging routine, but I will also be trying that clapping/auditory tip.
And bepsf, for those of us who've had gas ranges and lived with forgetful roommates who have boyfriends that smoke - Appliance Anxiety is just a way of life.
My mom left a stove burner on accidentally and went out do do some shopping. When she returned, she put her full (paper) bags of groceries on top of the stove. Big flames...
When we go out of town, my husband uses his phone to snap photos of the locked doors and windows and turned-off stove knobs. I think the ritual of it helps him makes sure that he's checked everything and, if/when he needs further assurance, he can always check the pix!
Your mnemonic is a fabulous thing, marfa!
If the light over the stove is on, then I consider that something is cooking somewhere in the kitchen and don't go off and leave it. When I'm done with whatever, I turn off that light. If I need ambient light, there is a small (and very pretty) lamp on a countertop that can be left on.