Is it safe if my power board or extension lead gets warm?

Two things make a board warm. The first is overload. Appliances that heat draw far more current than chargers and lamps, and two of them on one board can push the board, the lead and the wall point past what they're built for. The second is a poor connection. A loose or worn socket, a bent pin or a damaged cord creates resistance, and resistance makes heat in one spot even at normal loads.

A board that's warm at one socket only, or a plug that's hot while its cord is cool, points to a bad connection. That board is finished.

Warm boards are most common in winter: a column heater and an electric blanket sharing one board in a bedroom, or a heater on a lead that's still coiled on its reel, where the cable can't shed its heat. Summer has its own version, with a portable air conditioner sharing a board with a computer and TV on a hot northerly afternoon.

Energy Safe Victoria advises against piggybacking adaptors and suggests a power board with a built-in safety device instead. That helps, but it doesn't make a board the right place for a heater.

A power board is a stopgap for not having enough power points. If you're running boards behind the TV, at the desk and along the kitchen bench every day, adding double or USB power points where you actually need them is safer and tidier. Heavy loads, like a garage freezer or a heater in a home office, may need their own circuit. An electrician checks what else the circuit supplies before adding to it, and the Wiring Rules require safety switch protection on a circuit that's altered.