On Mon, 8 Jul 2013 08:44:49 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"sms" wrote in message
...
On 6/10/2013 1:59 PM, Robert Green wrote:

Americans over the age of 65 are one of the groups at greatest risk of
dying in a fire. On average, more than 900 Americans age 65 and over die
in
fires. People over the age of 85 die in fires at a rate five times
higher
than the rest of the population. However, there are a number of
precautionary steps older Americans can take to dramatically reduce
their
chances of becoming a fire casualty . . . Cooking accidents are the
leading
cause of fire related injuries for older Americans. The kitchen is one
of
the most active and potentially dangerous rooms in the home.

I think the reason that you don't see auto-shut-offs on cook tops is
that appliance manufacturers don't want consumers using such a device as
a timer rather than as a fail-safe shut-off. There would almost
certainly be liability issues the first time someone had a fire and
insisted that the auto-shut-off timer should have prevented it.

I suppose you're right. It does seem odd that people would find fault with
a device that automatically shuts off the burners/range top since there
isn't any sort of safety shutdown on them now. In addition to an

Yes I would probably use it all the time, the same way I use the sleep
switch on my radio most of the time, not just when I'm intending to go
to sleep but during the day too, so I don't have to remember to turn
the radio off.

auto-timer, ranges should have a remotely locatable temperature sensor that
would shut down the burners if the temperature in the cabinets or range hood
directly over the burners/heating elements reached a critical level.
Considering all the safety devices that are developed for the electrical
"grid" in the house (AFCI, breakers, GFCI's, etc) ranges and toaster-ovens
seem pretty far behind the times.

Good point. You've got my vote.

The motion sensor device to shut off the electricity after a short
period of time does make some sense because it requires that the stove
top be attended. A 15 minute manual timer connected to a relay that's
connected to the cook top power would also be okay because it would
constantly have to be reset. Ovens are less of an issue if it's left on
unattended because a fire is much less likely.

Except when there's a pan full of grease in the oven. Maybe when
it's only 1/4 full.

Thanks for the idea, Steven. I could easily hook up the electric toaster
oven to an X10 motion sensor and have it shut off the toaster oven if it's
unattended for more than 10 minutes. Might even be possible to create a
photocell sensor that detects when the inside of the toaster oven is too
bright thus indicating it's on fire inside.