Fact-check: Electric geysers are dangerous when showering?

Unsubstantiated claims have spread online, which warn people in Pakistan against the use of electric water heaters, alleging that the heaters are an electrocution hazard when left switched on during a shower.

The claim is misleading.

Claim

“Please make sure to switch off your electric geyser when taking a shower,” wrote a user on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on November 30, “Make sure to retweet this so you can save lives.”

The user posted a short animation with the post, which showed a man being electrocuted after failing to switch off the electric water heater before taking a bath.

The video has been viewed nearly 700,000 times, reposted 4,000 times and liked over 5,000 times, to date.

The claim also took off on Facebook and was posted here, here and here.

Fact

Experts say that the possibility of getting an electric shock from an electric water heater does exist, but the chances are very low if safety measures are taken, such as ensuring there is no faulty or damaged wiring or improper earthing.

Professor Dr Abdul Rauf Bhatti, the chairperson of the electrical engineering department at Government College University in Faisalabad, told Geo Fact Check over the phone that it was important to install an earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) device with an electric water heater.

The device prevents electric shock and electrical fires caused by short circuits or overloads.

“If there is an earth-leakage circuit breaker then it will trip [automatically shut off when leakage is detected],” he explained, adding that with ECLB electric geysers are safe to use at homes.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr Muhammad Shoaib, the dean of the electrical engineering department at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, said that geysers can be dangerous if proper safety measures are not taken.

“Of course if there is faulty wiring the possibility of a current flowing or short-circuiting is there. But if the wiring is fine, there is no issue,” he said over the phone.

Separately, Geo Fact Check spoke to two electricians in Lahore. Both rejected the claims circulating online.

Muhammad Asghar, who worked at the Lahore-based Asghar Electric and Cooling Works, said the use of an earth-leakage circuit breaker was essential to prevent accidents. 

Meanwhile, Tanveer Ahmed, an electrician who worked at a geyser repairing shop in Harbanspura, Lahore, also said that electric water heaters should not be installed without a breaker, otherwise, they can be dangerous.

With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal.

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