Can a Peltier Element Cause a Fire?

Short answer....yes, especially if you lose water pressure also.

It would be a good idea to add a thermal disconnection switch or thermostat to the Peltier device heatsink, especially if the equipment is going to be run unattended.

On a side note, Peltier devices are really inefficient and produce a lot of heat. Have you considered using this heat? You are already heating water with it after all......

Possibly but not likely. The internal solder will melt at around 400 - 450 F which is below the ignition point of most materials you would likely be using.

At worse I would add a simple high limit thermal switch that shuts the power off if the hot side goes over 200 F or so.

I don't know if all peltiers are the same but the ones I have used have the wires attached with indium alloy rather than solder. Depending on the specific alloy, indium will melt at around 80-100°C (175-212°F).

If the temperature gets hot enough to melt the indium alloy solder, you could get arcing or a short circuit, either of which could cause a fire. Definitely install some sort of temperature activated cutoff.

No. There is no way that any TEC you plug into a household outlet will generate enough heat to ever get above the ignition temperature of wood, or other common materials.

Is it possible to cause a fire with a Peltier based heat exchanger? Yes, it is possible to create a fire with any electrical wiring. The relatively low voltages, magnitude of the heat production and low temperature solder used to make the Peltier junctions themselves make this an almost fool proof method of heat exchanging as far as fire is concerned. Then again there are some very clever fools out there that can even ruin a wet dream.

Like those people who use petroleum jelly as heat sink compound?

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And about your question. I seriously doubt it would catch fire but depending on the materials you used it may create a very stinky possibly toxic smoke, which is just as bad if not worse. I agree with many other comments about a temp sensor to shut the thing down at about 200 deg F. And use that heat !! ! ! a pre heat tank for water heater is a great way because the heater works normally regardless of peltier heat input. Later Harold