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Some extension cords, although they can often help everyone in a household, can cause more harm than good.
Dangers of extension cords
For example, the one we will show you today is very dangerous and you should not use it.
Extension cords are very practical and can help almost anyone in the home.
That, however, does not change the fact that we should know how to use them properly. Otherwise it could lead to a tragedy.
Firefighters now warn and say that you should be very careful about what you plug into an extension cord. A classic six-socket extension cord can do more harm than good if you use it incorrectly.
Test
“Vasabladet” claims that an extension cord can provide power for 57 laptops, 4 coffee machines, but only 2 hair dryers.
The test showed that only five percent of the 226 lamps and table lamps that Europeans commonly equip their homes or offices with showed no defects.
The tested lamps had a number of technical defects, such as poor grounding.
They often did not carry the EC marking, which means that the product meets European standards.
We all have it at home
In recent years extension cords have become a common part of households in the EU, so the authors of the test also focused on them. They found that 58 percent of the 210 products are so dangerous that they should be withdrawn from the market.
As a result, on average only one extension cord out of six passed the test. The most common deficiency was the incorrect shape and dimensions of sockets and plugs.
Extension cords were also often of poor quality when it came to the durability of the material they are made from.
The extension cord test involved the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Poland and Sweden.
“The recommendation is to buy proven products from well-known manufacturers,” the European Commission spokeswoman Helen Kearnsová told consumers.
