Speaker 1:
From NBC News, this is TODAY.
Speaker 2:
So when was the last time you cleaned out your dryer vent? Come on, Brooke. Yesterday?
Brooke:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. What about checking out the correct wattage on all your light bulbs? Did that this morning? Maybe never-
Brooke:
Never.
Speaker 2:
… right?
Brooke:
Well, these little everyday things around your house could be dangerous to you and your family. Here to point out these hidden hazards is Amy Matthews, host of Renovation Raiders on HGTV. Good morning, Amy.
Amy Matthews:
Good morning. Thanks for having me, you guys. Let’s make our house safe.
Brooke:
All right, so [crosstalk 00:00:28].
Speaker 2:
Grease fires first. Let’s start with that.
Amy Matthews:
Most common cause of household fire is cooking. One thing you never want to do is put water on it. Bad idea. So it needs to be put out by some sort of fire suppressant. You can get a blanket, you can get something like this that sticks underneath your hood vents.
Brooke:
Suffocating. You need to suffocate it-
Amy Matthews:
It suffocates it. Because you want to cut off the oxygen to the fire. So if you don’t have any of these fun ones you’ve purchased, you can use a pan lid, you can use a cookie sheet, anything. But just remember-
Brooke:
[crosstalk 00:00:54] put all anything on it?
Amy Matthews:
Yes, you can put anything on it except for…-
Speaker 2:
Except for water-
Amy Matthews:
Except for water.
Brooke:
No, water, no sugar-
Amy Matthews:
No sugar.
Brooke:
… no flour, no salt-
Amy Matthews:
Exactly. Those things will blow up. So don’t get those out.
Speaker 2:
She’s learned her lessons well.
Brooke:
Yeah, I have.
Speaker 2:
Okay, over here let’s talk about hazardous cords because a lot of us have these fraying cords and think, “You know, we can get by another couple of years with that,” right?
Amy Matthews:
Right. Check all your chords, especially to your toaster because it uses a lot more wattage than anything else in your kitchen. So make sure that there’s not something that looks like that on there. And also it should never be plugged into a multi-plug. It should be plugged into a simple outlet by itself. And you shouldn’t have any flammables around it. No paper towels, no cookbooks or anything. Leave this on its own.
Brooke:
But you don’t have to unplug it every day?
Amy Matthews:
No, but some people do because there actually is a risk of fires-
Brooke:
When I go away.
Amy Matthews:
When you go away.
Brooke:
When I go away for a while I unplug mine.
Speaker 2:
Okay.
Amy Matthews:
Perfect idea. Who wants to vacuum?
Speaker 2:
All right. We’re talking about our dryer, the back of the dryer. A lot of people don’t look behind the dryer or do this.
Amy Matthews:
They don’t. At all this little lint really backs up. So pull the dryer way, take a look back here, vacuum all of this out. There’ll be a ton of lint build-up.
Speaker 2:
And the reason for doing is because of fire, right? You hear about dryer fires all the time-
Amy Matthews:
It will cause a fire. And look at all of the stuff that can literally… look at that, your jeans, undies.
Brooke:
How often do you have to do this?
Amy Matthews:
So once a year. In fact, all these things are easy to do once a year. And then when you’re doing this, make sure you check the outside exhaust as well because that one gets really backed up on the outside of the house.
Brooke:
And you’re saying this has to be at least four inches away from the wall, right?
Amy Matthews:
Actually the…
Brooke:
Or the water.
Amy Matthews:
The water because of the kinking in the lines back there. So most of them sit a little ways away because of the vents on there. So-
Speaker 2:
Okay, and over here, speaking of water. Water damage is a costly… but I just fixed a whole wall because of water damage behind my washing machine.
Amy Matthews:
Was it this? Did you need me-
Speaker 2:
Yes, I should have had you come.
Amy Matthews:
… Did you need me? Should I have come on last week?
Speaker 2:
Where were you? You were busy with your little show.
Amy Matthews:
I’m sorry. I was renovating-
Speaker 2:
Big show.
Amy Matthews:
… 10 other houses.
Speaker 2:
Yes.
Amy Matthews:
So take a look at the lines behind your washing machine. Pull it away, turn the water off. If any of these are old or frayed, replace them. When you do upgrade to one of these, because this is a steel braided line, which is a lot stronger and it’s warrantied for longer.
Amy Matthews:
Just remember when you’re working with your water, when you shut the water off as you’re going to work on things, turn on some sort of faucet on something nearby so that all the water drains, so you don’t cause your own water damage while you’re fixing it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that would not be good. Okay. I’m guilty of-
Brooke:
This is a common one.
Speaker 2:
… doing this one. This is the over wattage situation, right?
Amy Matthews:
It is. So your lights don’t have those wattage recommendations just for fun, so they actually want you to do that so that you’re safe and you don’t burn the lamp around it. It can cause a fire.
Amy Matthews:
So your regular incandescent bulb is really inefficient, number one. You’ve got your CFLs, you’ve got your LEDs and you’ve got your halogen lamps. The interesting thing is the wattage, how much energy it uses, has nothing to do with the brightness. So let’s say you have a hundred watts for this, and you’re putting in a lamp that’s only 40. Well, this per se is 22 watts, so a hundred incandescent watts equal 22 watts from CFL, but they both give the same light so you can actually get more light with less wattage. So think about it-
Brooke:
These are harder to get now too.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, these are more environmentally friendly.
Amy Matthews:
And they last longer and it’s just much smarter.
Brooke:
Okay, this is a huge-
Speaker 2:
Real quick.
Brooke:
… problem in my house. Quickly.
Amy Matthews:
So always check them once a year to make sure all of your fire and smoke alarms have batteries in them. Pick the same day, like New Year’s every year, and then make sure you have another fire extinguisher for the whole house. All of these things you can do. Just pick one day, peace of mind. Do them all at one time and you’re done.
Brooke:
Thank you.
Speaker 2:
Amy Matthews.
Brooke:
Thanks, you guys.
Speaker 2:
Great information. And thank you. My to do list has grown by a lot-
Amy Matthews:
I’m sorry. We can come over and do it for you?
Speaker 2:
I’d like that.
Amy Matthews:
I’ll get my team.
Speaker 2:
We’ll be back in a moment. This is TODAY on NBC.
