Re: Dryer/Range and 3vs4prong cords
Originally posted by charlie b:
Originally posted by petersonra: . . . why screw with something that is proven safe over a long period of time and saves money to boot.
I've said it before on this Forum, and I'll say it many times again. The fact that something has not yet caused a disaster is not evidence that it is safe.
"An accident waiting for a place to happen will, given time, find that place." Charlie Beck
Soemthing that is inherently unsafe is different from something that has a long history of "safe" operation, but could be made "safer". It is hard to argue with tens or maybe hundreds of millions of installations that were done this way, consider the very low number of problems, and not come to the conclusion that it was a relatively "safe" practice.
A lot of these things are a matter of balancing the added costs of making something safer. One could argue that electricity is inherently dangerous. But the fact is, that it has made our lives much safer. Electric lights are far safer than gas lights, even if now and then someone does get electrocuted. I don't mean to be flip about it, but I suspect that gas or oil lantern lighting has probably killed far more people than electrical wiring in total.
If the added cost of the 4th wire caused some people to forego having an electric range and were to stick with a wood stove to cook on, it is almost certain that far more people would have died from the use of the wood stove than from the very slim additional risk of electrocution that not having the 4th wire poses.
I wonder if anyone even has any figures on whether anyone has ever been killed from this type of installation.
