How many smoke alarms should you have in your home?
Do you have enough smoke detectors at your house?
You should probably have more than one. How many and where do you put them?
John Drengenberg, consumer safety director at Underwriters Labs, says: "The recommendation for smoke alarms is to have one on every level of your home and also outside the sleeping area which is usually the hallway around the bedrooms. This gives you the loudest warning in the middle of the night and will certainly wake you up."
Mount those alarms high on walls or ceilings. Remember, smoke rises.
If you're installing new alarms on more than one floor, you might want to get the kind that are interconnected. They all go off no matter which one senses smoke.
"And this gives you the earliest possible warning because one in the basement might not go off as quickly as one on a second or even a third floor," Drengenberg says.
You don't need wires to interconnect alarms. You'll find a number of models on the market that use radio waves to do it.
If someone in your home is deaf or hard of hearing, consider installing an alarm that combines flashing lights and vibration with sound.
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More Information:
UL: Smoke Alarms
Consumer Product Safety Commission: Smoke Alarms
You should probably have more than one. How many and where do you put them?
John Drengenberg, consumer safety director at Underwriters Labs, says: "The recommendation for smoke alarms is to have one on every level of your home and also outside the sleeping area which is usually the hallway around the bedrooms. This gives you the loudest warning in the middle of the night and will certainly wake you up."
Mount those alarms high on walls or ceilings. Remember, smoke rises.
If you're installing new alarms on more than one floor, you might want to get the kind that are interconnected. They all go off no matter which one senses smoke.
"And this gives you the earliest possible warning because one in the basement might not go off as quickly as one on a second or even a third floor," Drengenberg says.
You don't need wires to interconnect alarms. You'll find a number of models on the market that use radio waves to do it.
If someone in your home is deaf or hard of hearing, consider installing an alarm that combines flashing lights and vibration with sound.
-----
More Information:
UL: Smoke Alarms
Consumer Product Safety Commission: Smoke Alarms
Single story home, One between kitchen and fire place, one near bedroom and a co / propane detector at floor near furnace/ clothes dryer (both propane)
fire ex in kitchen. we're covered
It's a "No Duh" sort of thing. I would also recommend one in the garage, the kind with the carbon monoxide tester especially if you have a gas furnace and water heater.
@Just a dude No, authorities recommend against installing either smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors in garages, too much chance for false alarms.
They DO recommend smoke detectors in all sleeping rooms.
Also remember that a smoke detector has a limited lifespan and should be replaced after ten years. Carbon monoxide detectors should be replaced every five years.
Don't forget a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and garage.