Installing your smoke alarms correctly - and making sure they are in working order - is an important step to making your home and family safer from fire.It’s important to have enough smoke alarms in your home. Fire research has demonstrated that with today’s modern furnishings, fires can spread much more rapidly than in the past when more natural materials were used. Because of this, having a sufficient number of properly located smoke alarms is essential to maximize the amount of available escape time. For many years NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, has required as a minimum that smoke alarms be installed inside every sleep room (even for existing homes) in addition to requiring them outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. (Additional smoke alarms are required for larger homes.) Homes built to earlier standards often don’t meet these minimum requirements. Homeowners and enforcement authorities should recognize that detection needs have changed over the years and take proactive steps make sure that every home has a sufficient complement of smoke alarms. Show
Installing smoke alarms
Testing smoke alarms
Interconnected smoke alarms increase safetyIn a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) survey of households with any fires, including fires in which the fire department was not called, interconnected smoke alarms were more likely to operate and alert occupants to a fire.1 People may know about a fire without hearing a smoke alarm.
1 Michael A. Greene and Craig Andres. 2004-2005 National Sample Survey of Unreported Residential Fires. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, July 2009. How many smoke detectors should be in a room?According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), you should install smoke detectors on every floor of your home, in each bedroom, outside of sleeping areas, and in hallways. The NFPA suggests a maximum distance of 30 feet between each smoke detector.
What should be the distance between two smoke detectors?The current code requirements for smoke detector spacing state that the maximum distance between detectors is a nominal 30 feet, and the distance between detectors must not exceed half of the nominal spacing measured from the wall or any partitions within the top portion of the ceiling height.
Do you need a carbon monoxide detector in every room?It is important to install CO alarms on every level of your house so all family members can hear the detectors and be alerted to the emergency. You should also have carbon monoxide detectors in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and common rooms for extra safety while you and your family are sleeping.
How many carbon & smoke detectors do I need?The International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends a carbon monoxide detector on every floor of your home, including the basement. A detector should be located within 10 feet of each bedroom door and there should be one near or over any attached garage. Each detector should be replaced every five to six years.
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