Smoke alarms are your first line of defense against a fire. Here’s what you need to know about smoke alarms, including which type to choose and how to install and maintain them in your home.
Types of smoke alarms available include:
Optical Detectors: Less prone to false alarms and react faster to smoldering fires.
Ionization Detectors: Better at sensing flames but prone to false alarms.
Combination Detectors: Use optical and ionization sensors in the same unit to provide protection from both types of fires.
Tips for Installing a Smoke Alarm:
- Install at least one smoke alarm on each level of your home.
- Place an alarm in or near each bedroom of your home.
- Write the date purchased on the back of each alarm.
- Position alarms on or near the ceiling and away from corners.
- Write the replacement date on each battery and change batteries as needed or every 6 to 12 months.
- Clean alarms yearly by gently vacuuming them or blowing detectors out with canned air.
- Replace the alarms every 10 years.
It would be a mercy if you would recommend to landlords that they install battery-operated smoke detectors and change the battery every year. My landlord has installed a hard-wired unit I can’t shut up nor find a way to detach it.
I have the same problem. Electrician wants 75.00 for service call and I have to go out and buy the smoke detector for him to install.
where are national guidelines on how know when detector has expired?
Are there detectors that do not expire?
Thanks! P