Stupid Dehydrator Question #2

[commoncents]

Hello All: I'm new to Raw cooking so please bare with my questions. I have noticed that a couple of the recipes that I wish to make call for you to dehydrate the food for 18-24 hours.

Just wanted to know is it safe to leave home with the dehydrator still running? I will return by the time the food is to be taken out, but oftentimes don't have blocks of time where I am at home as I'm a busy lady and on the run alot.

I have used it overnight and the house did not burn down (tee, hee), but I have this extreme phobia about leaving ANYTHING on when I'm not home.

Thanks in advance.

[lanettasmouse]

i have the same phobia, but i am lucky enough to not have to leave the house if i choose not to. i have left it on while just running to the store down the street real quick, but was even scared to do that. i don't think so much that the dehydrator would cause something like that to happen cause it's not on that high of a temp (110-115 at the most for me), but i don't trust the electrical in the house that i live in. it is an old house and there are many things wrong with it and well i just plain don't trust this house. i know this sounds crazy:eek: , but this house doesn't like us and we have had a lot of bad things happen while here. but we are planning on moving soon.

[beckx]

i've left it on and gone out at least once or twice a week for the last couple of months. unless you have a very very old house with bad wiring, i wouldn't think you have too much to worry about.

[raweater]

I'm always VERY careful with fire prevention, especially since I'm in a not so modern home with aluminum wiring which has since been banned for causing fires. I always make sure never to put over 1500 watt on a single outlet or leave dangerous appliances on while I'm gone.

However, the dehydrator was never a concern to me because it is a very low power device, much less than your fridge, water heater or furnace. So think about it this way, if you're not worried about the fridge, water heater or furnace, the dehydrator should be the least of your concerns.

Also remember that even though the big 9 tray model is rated at 600 watts, that's the peak amount during initial warmup, after that I would expect it to be about 100 watts on average to maintain the temperature.

My dehydrator is very often running, so it's normally running when I leave, I never even thought about it until I saw this post, to me it's not an appliance we should be worried about. I know quite a bit about electricity and I would say the Excalibur dehydrators (haven't seen the others) are extremely safe, I wouldn't be worried leaving it on for 2 weeks while away, but it has a 26 hour timer, so that's not even possible anyway.

[Holli]

I'm with raweater on this one. I leave mine on all the time day or night whether I'm home or not. I also have an excalibur and have never had a problem.

[Aleesha Sattva]

raweater you took the words right out of my mouth!

[commoncents]

For your words of wisdom. I thought the dehydrator was safe, but this is my first time using one and then again I have this fire phobia.

I will leave it on and run my errands on the weekend so I can come home to a nice dinner right out of the dehydrator after a long day.

I love this site and thanks again!!!!

[pan.droid]

For your words of wisdom. I thought the dehydrator was safe, but this is my first time using one and then again I have this fire phobia.

I will leave it on and run my errands on the weekend so I can come home to a nice dinner right out of the dehydrator after a long day.

I love this site and thanks again!!!!

You're fine:)