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A red fire extinguisher mounted on a wall
Photo Erik Mclean / Unsplash

Home Extinguishers

The right extinguisher in the right room, and an honest look at the gadgets sold beside it.

A portable extinguisher is for a fire small enough to fight in its first minute, with a clear way out behind you. For a home that means a listed ABC unit of real size (not a 1 kg toy) in the kitchen, the garage and on each floor, plus knowing when to leave instead. Beside them on the shelf sit aerosol cans, throwable fire balls and other gadgets; we review those too, and most of them do not replace a listed extinguisher.

Our picks

3 guides · price bands $ to $$$$

Illustration: 10 lb ABC Fire Extinguisher (garage & deck)Illustration
Buy the big one $

10 lb ABC Fire Extinguisher (garage & deck)

Amerex / Kidde / First Alert · 🇺🇸 🇨🇦

A 10 lb ABC extinguisher gives you 20+ seconds of discharge, versus 8 seconds from a kitchen model. Mount one at the garage door and one by the deck. Choose rechargeable metal-valve units.

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An extra at the stove — not a substitute for a listed extinguisher $

Aerosol-Can Fire Sprays

First Alert (EZ Fire Spray AF400) · Tundra · 🇨🇦 🇺🇸

Spray-can-sized products sold for kitchens and cars that discharge a wet-chemical or water-based agent for roughly 30 seconds. They are easy to use but much smaller than a real extinguisher, and they are not listed and rated the way a portable extinguisher is.

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Skip it — not a substitute for a listed extinguisher $$

Throwable Fire-Extinguishing Balls

Elide (now E FIRE USA) · unbranded marketplace sellers · 🇨🇦 🇺🇸

Balls of dry chemical powder that burst when thrown into a fire or engulfed by one. On March 28, 2024 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to immediately stop using Elide-brand balls because they can fail to extinguish fires, with a risk of serious injury or death.

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Before you buy

  1. Buy listed extinguishers: UL-listed in the US, ULC-listed in Canada. The rating on the label (for example 2-A:10-B:C) tells you what it is tested to put out.
  2. A 2.5 kg (5 lb) ABC unit is the practical minimum for a kitchen; a 4.5 kg (10 lb) unit belongs in the garage and workshop.
  3. Mount it near an exit, not beside the stove, so you can fight the fire with your escape route behind you.
  4. Check the gauge monthly and replace disposable units after any use or once they reach the end of the life printed on them.
  5. Aerosol cans and fire balls are not listed as fire extinguishers. Treat them as extras, never as the extinguisher for a room.