MythBusters

Please, don't try anything you are about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

They say home is where the heart is.

But inside every house lurks a host of domestic dangers.

So could your home actually be where the hurt is?

The Mythbusters are finding out.

Ah. A mythbuster's job is never done.

From exploding vacuum cleaners...

I spilled the whole thing. Oh, no.

...to sunscreen that could scorch your skin...

Can't get sunburnt.

Hey. We caught him on fire.

There. He's on fire.

...to pianos dropping out of the sky.

Off the roof. Off the other roof!

Nothing but concrete.

And finally, to water heaters that might extinguish fires.

Oh, crap!

Boom!

Wow.

The Mythbusters are on the case

With a horde of household disasters.

Come on. Come on, water heater.

Whoa!

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

This is science in action.

...and Jamie Hyneman.

We're gonna have an adventure.

Between them, more than 30 years

Of special-effects experience.

Together with Kari Byron...

Let's do it.

...Grant Imahara...

Rahhhh!

...and Tory Belleci.

Let's chop this car up!

They don't just tell the myths.

Oh, yeah.

They put them to the test.

Off the grid and undercover...

...the Mythbusters are beginning...

This is the worst-case scenario.

Fire in the hole!

...by living dangerously.

All I want is something to blow up.

Is that so much to ask?

Boom.

High five! Nicely done!

I spoke too soon. Good work, everyone.

So, they've started with a bang.

But how about we start at the beginning?

Well, today, what we have is a whole episode

Devoted to myths about household disasters.

And the first one is a doozy --

The myth that sunscreen

Can make you vulnerable to bursting into flames.

Spontaneous human combustion.

I'm all for it.

Great. Let's go.

There's a myth out there

That says that certain types of sunscreen

May protect you from burning,

But they can also, at the same time, set you on fire.

And so, with that in mind,

We've come out to one of our favorite places in the bay area

That we can legally and safely set things on fire.

Yep. Inside this fireproof concrete bunker...

Nice.

...the guys will attempt to light up some lotion.

That your fire suit?

It is, indeed.

Good. Well, if you put that on,

We'll find out which one of these is flammable.

All right.

With Adam suited,

First up are the traditional creams...

Just squirt those into the flame.

...in possibly the most basic test ever on "Mythbusters."

All right. Here goes nothing.

3, 2, 1.

Not flammable.

Nope.

All right. Number two.

Also not flammable.

Nope.

So, why didn't the creams burn?

Well, the creams are made up of chemicals and minerals,

But they're primarily an oil-based product.

And just like the oil in your salad dressing,

It's pretty hard to get it to burst into flames.

Not flammable.

But we're just getting started.

Now it's time to move on to the sprays.

Oh!

All right. That's one for further study.

Wow!

Clearly, this is one you shouldn't try at home...

Whoo!

...because the sprays are adding fuel to the fire.

Wow!

Dude, these sprays are scary.

And it's all down to the propellant.

So, what are those propellants you'll find

In an average can of spray sunscreen?

Primarily butane and propane.

Butane you'll know as the stuff that's in your lighter.

And propane is the stuff you cook your burgers on.

They're used primarily because they're self-pressurizing.

They allow the manufacturer to make something that sprays

Without having to put a highly pressurized gas

In this canister.

They're not meant to be flammable --

Not for this product, anyway.

The butane is fanning the flames of the myth.

All right.

Time to get cooking.

So now to find out if this summertime scenario

Really is a household hazard.

Just in case.

Our scenario here is pretty straightforward.

Our dude here, the chef,

Is a barbecuing aficionado who is also very pale.

So he is currently covering himself with sunscreen

While barbecuing.

We're gonna wait until the meat gets good and greasy

And get some fire coming up off of that.

And then we're gonna try and apply a little sunscreen,

See what happens to our dude.

All right. Here we go.

"I may be barbecuing,

But it's been awhile since I put sunscreen on."

Barbecue buster is pale as a ghost,

So Adam ensures he's thoroughly protected from the sun.

Yeah. That's not so bad.

But could that overzealous protection

Actually do buster harm?

Can't get sunburnt. No. No sunburn for you.

Whoa. Whoa.

Hey. We caught him on fire.

He's on fire.

Should I put him out?

Yes! Excellent.

Whoo! That was close!

We actually were able to get the fire

To jump from the barbecue through the mist

To the guy's arm and set him on fire.

Pretty extreme circumstances, I know,

But at this point, his arm and even some of his clothing

Are on fire.

And he's in big trouble.

Clearly, this could be a home disaster

Waiting to happen.

So cue human analogue 2.0.

Ready for your 15 minutes of fame, little piggy?

Next up, Kari, Tory, and Grant

Get the drop on a little house music.

Are you guys ready for a super slapstick,

Cartoon-style house hazards myth?

Yeah. Okay. Let's hear it.

All right. So, you know when a piano

Is dangling above a house dangerously,

Whenever it drops, it crashes all the way through.

Yeah. And it leaves a perfect hole in the roof,

And every floor it goes through.

Well, that's what we're testing.

Is that how it really happens?

So, to test this disastrous domestic drop,

They found the perfect crib to crash a piano through.

Whoa. This place is creepy.

Now, to test this, we had to find a house.

And by some miracle,

Somebody has given us a house to crash a piano through.

What is this place?

Now, before you freak out --

"Oh, it's a house from the 1800s!" --

This is ridden with rat poop.

This is slated for teardown.

This is going to be demolished anyway.

We're just gonna give it a head start.

So, this is the piano that we're gonna be dropping on our roof.

It weighs 700 pounds.

We're gonna take it up 50 feet above the roof and drop it.

Now, it's gonna be traveling at 38 miles an hour,

And it's gonna hit the rooftop with 12,000 pounds of force.

And this is our roof.

We'll be dropping the piano right on the bull's eye.

Now, at that target point, a roof of this design

Is capable of supporting a static load

Of approximately 2,200 pounds.

Let me show you what it looks like inside.

And we've specifically chosen the target point

To be between the roof joists

So it has the best possibility of punching through.

But that's not all.

In order for this myth to be confirmed,

It has to punch through the floor, too.

Now, this floor is capable of supporting a static load

Of 4,200 pounds.

And if you do all the math,