Staying safe in your bedroom
As everyone spends at least one-third of their day in their bedroom, it makes sense to keep this room as electrically safe as the rest of your home.
Bedrooms can be untidy places and piles of clothes lying around in a room full of electrical devices can create a fire hazard.
They could also potentially block your exit routes making it more difficult to escape, especially at night.
Charging electrical devices such as phones and tablets on your bed or under your pillow while you sleep can cause a fire.
If possible, avoid charging your devices unattended or overnight, and only charge them on a hard surface in the room.
Using extension leads are common in bedrooms to deal with the lack of socket-outlets but be careful that you aren’t overloading the leads. Our socket calculator can help.
Regularly check all the cables and plugs in your bedroom for signs of wear and tear, loose fittings, or damage. If you notice anything concerning, stop using the appliance immediately.
Smoke alarms are more commonly found on the ground floor of a house, but there should be at least one fitted on every level of your home, especially if bedrooms are upstairs.
Heaters and electric blankets
A portable heater is commonly used in bedrooms to keep warm, but keep it away from flammable materials such as curtains and the furniture. And never use one to dry your clothes.
An electric blanket is another popular bedroom product but replace your blanket if you see any signs of wear and tear.
Read the manufacturer’s instructions on how to store it properly to prevent damaging cables and the blanket.
ALWAYS
- Charge your devices on a hard surface such as a table or desk.
- Keep the room tidy, making sure clothes aren’t covering electrical devices.
- Check cables and plugs regularly for signs of wear and tear.
- Keep portable heaters well away from any flammable materials.
- Fit a smoke alarm near to bedrooms in case of fire.
AVOID
- Charging devices under your pillow or on the bed.
- Overloading extension leads or socket-outlets.
- Using a portable electric heater to dry your clothes.
- Using an electric blanket, or other appliances, if there are any signs of damage.
In our product safety section
In our product safety section
Stay safe with electrical products
Check plugs and sockets
Don't ignore burn marks, ‘arcing’ (buzzing or crackling) sounds, fuses blowing, circuit-breakers tripping, or if it feels hot to touch.
Unplug and contact the retailer, manufacturer, or a qualified repair technician.
Protect with an RCD
An RCD (residual current device) in your consumer unit (fusebox) protects you from electric shocks if a product is faulty.
If you don’t have RCD protection, use an RCD plug on the socket where the product is plugged in.
Fit smoke and heat alarms
Ensure there is at least one smoke or heat alarm per floor in your property. Fit enough alarms to cover all areas where a fire could start.
Test alarms at least once a month. Replace them every ten years or when the replace by date is reached.
Selected FAQs
Answers to commonly-asked questions we receive about electrical safety.
There should be a minimum of one smoke alarm per floor with a heat detector in the kitchen. You should fit enough alarms to cover all areas where a fire could start. Make sure they are tested regularly - ideally every week.
It depends on its condition rather than its age, if it has been tested and is in good condition and everything is working effectively there is no requirement to rewire. However, you may wish to consider adding RCDs to enhance the safety of the installation.
A qualified electrician will say if your home needs rewiring and what can be achieved within a specific budget.
You can find an electrician local to you here.
For privately rented properties, your landlord or letting agent should have given you a copy of an EICR carried out on your rental property, but also kept one for themselves, so you should be able to ask them for a duplicate.
For owner occupied properties, there may be a label in the fuse box / consumer unit that states when the last inspection and test was done.
If there isn't one present we would suggest arranging one with a registered electrician.
You can find an electrician local to you here.
We recommend you don't bring home electrical products purchased from outside the UK.
However, an EU conversion plug could make some appliances safe for use in the UK:
- Check if the type of conversion plug is suitable for use with the EU plug.
- Follow manufacturer's instructions when fitting a conversion plug.
- Remember, travel adaptors are not a suitable or safe alternative.
- If the plug is not suitable for conversion, replace the appliance with a UK product.
If you have purchased an electrical product that you believe to be unsafe, you should contact the manufacturer to let them know of your concerns.
If they do not deal with this to your satisfaction, you should report the product to your local Trading Standards Office and they will be able to investigate further.
We recommend that you register all of your electrical appliances so that, in the event of a problem, the manufacturer can contact you to let you know about it. You can find out more here.
Electrical products are recalled more regularly than you might think, but the response rate to a recall is often worryingly low. This means there are potentially millions of recalled electrical items still in UK homes.
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