One time when I was cleaning around the stove I bumped the cord and it got up against the hot stove for just a second and started to melt the cord(see last 2 pictures) but it did not get near the inner wires and the stove kept working good for me for the rest of that heating season plus the next year. Then I went to a pellet stove and got rid of the Alaska Stove but I kept this control box. The length of the cord for this box is 7 feet.