Safe-T-Element

 

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Engineered to help prevent cooking fires and reduce the amount of electricity required to cook
Safe-T-element® is available throughout North America as a retrofit for existing electric coiled stoves AND now also available pre-installed on new stoves.

The stovetop is the number one cause of household fires in North America.
The kitchen stovetop is the number one cause of household fire in North America. According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA):

• • A kitchen fire occurs every 8 minutes in the United States
• • Unattended cooking is responsible for 70% of these fires
• • Over 53% of Americans admit to walking away from the kitchen while cooking
• • Seniors are the highest risk group in North America
• • More than 1,200 Americans over the age of 65 die as a result of fire and more than 3,000 are injured due to residential fires
• • Seniors between the age of 65 and 75 have a fire death rate twice that of the national average
• • And adults between 75 and 85 are four times as likely to die from fire
• • 43% of people who have died in cooking fires were asleep at the time
• • Cooking accounts for 42% of all apartment fires
• • Cooking is the leading cause of fire on university/college campuses
• • Approximately 12.3 million cooking fires each year are unreported

An electric stovetop element on high and unattended for even a short period of time reaches a dangerously high temperature and is out of control.

According to a study done by the National Association of State Fire Marshals (“NASFM”) and the Association of Appliance Manufacturers (“AHAM”), stovetop fires are the leading cause of civilian injuries, accounting for more than 400 civilian deaths, $440 million in direct property damage and over $2 billion in related costs in the United States.

Canada and the United States have the highest per capita fire death rates in the industrialized world. According to the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), North America possesses a wealth of fire suppression technologies and fire service delivery mechanisms. However, the NFPA insists that most of the money is spent on responding to and suppressing fires, not preventing them.

"Cooking fires create the worst record for fires in the United States. Safe -T-element® will reduce that unacceptable toll when installed in homes across America." - James F. McMullen, Retired California State Fire Marshal.

How Safe-T-element® helps prevent stove top fires
The Safe-T-element® cooking system is a CSA approved component engineered to prevent stove top cooking fires before they start. Unlike other technologies that alert residents that there is already a fire or suppress an existing fire, the Safe-T-element® actually helps prevent the fire from occurring in the first place.

Each Safe-T-element is an electronically controlled solid cover plate that is installed on top of existing stovetop burners. A patented control unit installed inside the stove controls the temperature of the plate limiting the high-end temperature to 350ºC/662ºF. Ignition temperature for oil and most common fibers starts at 387ºC/728ºF while electric stoves on high go well above 700ºC/1292ºF.

When the plate reaches just over 350ºC/662ºF the stove automatically shuts off and then as the plate cools to just below 350ºC/662ºF the stovetop is turned on again. In this way the burner plate caps the high-end temperature at 350ºC/662ºF below the ignition level of oil and most common household materials. Considering that water boils at 100ºC/212ºF, this temperature is more than enough for efficient and effective cooking.

"Our goal is to see this technology installed in all facilities in the State of Washington" - Chief Mike Brown, Executive Director, Washington State Fire Chiefs

Safe-T-element® is particularly relevant to society's most vulnerable

The Safe-T-element® cooking system is relevant to those who are most vulnerable to fire. It helps to prevent injuries, save lives and protect properties from the dangers of stovetop cooking fires. The product is currently being marketed through established distribution channels to multi-residential senior’s facilities, housing authorities, university/college housing, military housing, extended stay hotels and facilities that house those who are mentally or physically challenged.

"An exciting product that I know will benefit your supportive housing organization, as it targets the particular needs of the residents you house." - Jo Ferris-Davies, Director, Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association

Safe-T-element® is the solution the industry has been looking for

Despite the constant efforts of fire prevention educators to modify cooking behavior, according to the NFPA, stovetop cooking related fires have remained constant and continue to be the number one cause of fire in North America.

Stove manufacturers have been urged by organizations such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and others to voluntarily come up with a solution to the problem. Pioneering and others in the fire prevention and home safety community believe that Pioneering’s patented Safe-T-element® cooking system is the solution that the industry has been looking for.

"If one major manufacturer were to take the lead, others would quickly follow" - Mike Collins, Executive Director, California Independent Living Council