My mother-inlaw rarely sewed, but once when she finished she put the leg of the stool on the foot pedal. It wasn't enough to get the machine running, but enough to move the pedal down. It sat for who knows how long that way, and the pedal got very hot and burned the rug. Somehow it must have gotten moved some how. Some months later when she went to sew again, she discovered the burnt rug. They were so lucky they didn't lose their home or lives.

I unplug my machine when not in use. I do though to save electricity. Same with all other items that plug in, toaster, cell phone charger, tart warmer, so forth.

Kyia

I am careful to always unplug whatever I am not using...except major appliances. And I would unplug all of those too except the refrigerator if it wasn't so hard to get behind them to plug in and out. We lost a dryer once due to a bad thunderstorm storm. I definitely would not want to lose my sewing machine due to a power surge or storm..and am very cautious about unplugging irons, computers, toasters, etc when not using, and also unplug surge protectors. Can't be too careful!