The extension cord mistake you're probably making at home right now

You know the drill. You get a new apartment, do a quick count of the outlets, and find there are precisely three of them, and all in the wrong places. So you do what any sensible person would do: you buy a power strip, plug it into the one outlet near your desk, and suddenly your laptop, monitor, phone charger, desk lamp, and fan are all running off the same little plastic block. Problem solved, right? Not quite.

Each year in the U.S., extension cords and power strips cause about 3,300 home fires, killing about 50 people and injuring 270 more. And the most terrifying thing? Most of those didn’t start out with anything dramatic. They started with the same setup that you probably have at this very moment: too many things plugged into too little space.

The math your power strip is quietly doing without you
Every power strip has a maximum wattage or amperage it can safely handle, and it’s usually printed in tiny text on the bottom of the device, if it’s printed at all. The moment you go past that limit, the internal wiring starts to heat up. You won’t smell it. You won't see it. The plastic just silently starts to break down until something goes wrong.


A warning sign to unplug and discard a hot power strip immediately is touching it. Heat is a warning sign, but most people miss it because the strip is hidden behind the couch or shoved under the bed where no one is looking.

Budget strips bought at dollar stores or discount retailers are particularly dangerous. According to the CPSC's official extension cord safety bulletin, you should always check the capacity or rating on the extension cord’s tag or packaging before using it and never overload it beyond its rating. The strips sold at discount stores are often not safety-certified, and in some instances, the labels are outright counterfeit.

The appliances you should never plug into a power strip
This is where most people go wrong. Not everything should be on a shared strip; some appliances pull so much power that they need their own dedicated wall outlet.

Space heaters are probably the biggest offenders. They work at full power all the time, and window air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and space heaters are singled out as high-power appliances that should never be plugged into a power strip. Same with refrigerators, microwaves, air fryers, hair dryers, or any kind of countertop cooking appliance. These are not edge cases; they are common apartment staples that millions of people routinely plug into strips that cannot handle them.

The simple rule of thumb: if an appliance has a motor or creates heat, it goes straight into the wall.

Why daisy-chaining is never the answer
We’ve all been there. The cord is a little short, so you plug an extension cord into another extension cord or stack two power strips on top of each other. It feels like a creative patch. It isn't.

The wiring in power strips is often lower quality than the wiring in your walls. So chaining them together is basically stacking thin, cheap wire over more thin, cheap wire. High-draw appliances can heat those wires until they catch fire. This is also a violation of OSHA regulations and UL safety standards. The more connection points involved, the greater the risk.

According to the NFPA’s report on home electrical fires, electrical distribution equipment, including power strips, accounts for 10% of all home fires, and the leading cause is improper use: overloading, daisy-chaining, and running high-wattage appliances through shared strips.

If your cord just doesn’t go far enough, the best fix is either to buy an appliance with a longer cord built in or (preferably) have an electrician install an outlet in the right place.

What to actually do this weekend
You don’t have to rewire your apartment. You just need a quick check. Make sure you aren't plugging one power strip into another. Also, make sure you aren't running multiple strips off the same wall outlet. See what is plugged into each strip right now, and unplug anything with a heating element or motor.

When purchasing a new power strip, choose one with a built-in circuit breaker, and check that the amperage rating will accommodate the overall load of what you intend to plug in; most standard strips are rated for 15 to 20 amps. Surge protectors and power strips are not the same thing, but the extra protection is worth the cost.

Your apartment was already underpowered when you moved in. On top of that, don't make it a fire hazard.