It used to be that the power would go out and we’d wake up to blinking LED displays. Now, apparently, we need to worry about appliances accidentally turning on during the night.
Ashley Carman, reporting for the Verge:
At least three smart June Ovens have turned on in the middle of the night and heated up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The ovens’ owners aren’t sure why this happened, and June tells The Verge that user error is at fault. The company is planning an update that’ll hopefully remedy the situation and prevent it from happening again, but that change isn’t coming until next month.
One owner’s oven turned on around 2:30AM and broiled at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for hours while he slept, and he only noticed when he woke up four hours later. Nest cam footage captured the exact moment it turned on: the oven illuminates his dark, empty kitchen in a truly Black Mirror-like recording. This owner says his wife baked a pie around 11:30PM the night of the preheating incident, but she turned the oven off once she took the pie out.
June compares the “user error” to “butt dialing,” explaining that owners accidentally turned the ovens on with the app. But the company seems to acknowledge that the design of the oven and the app need to be improved to prevent these kinds of mistakes.
The article mentions that “unattended cooking” accounts for thirty-three percent of home fires. Smoking and candles are also up there. My law partner and I once tried a case where the house burned down and killed the elderly gentleman living there. Our forensic analysis showed the stove had been left on. Most of us would probably have to admit we’ve left the stove or oven on a few times.
But accidentally and remotely turning on our appliances — especially ones that get really hot — is definitely a new thing.
(Via Kottke)