Where to Place Smoke Detectors in Your Home
When you make that all-too-important decision to fix smoke detectors in your home, you may have trouble deciding where to place the detectors. Since this device is essential in warning you of sudden fires, you must know where to correctly locate them. The location of a smoke detector can be a tricky thing since aesthetics are often an issue-it must both be in line with other electrical fixtures and your décor. But the thing to remember is that smoke detectors are designed to be sensitive to smoke. Since smoke tends to naturally rise up, it only makes sense to place the device high up on the ceiling or wall. Some good locations for smoke detectors would be bedrooms, kitchens (but further away from stoves) living rooms and the top of stairways. It would make sense to spread them out on each floor if it's a multilevel house. You should also place one in the garage annex. Smoke alarms get screwed into their respective locations and they ought to be close to the center of the room. You might not want to mount them near windows or doors, since smoke could go outwards and out of the range of the detector. Also, the smoke alarm should be fitted in a place where it is clearly audible; day or night.
There are several types of smoke detectors available. Some work independently, some work on batteries, while others work on electrical connections and may have battery backup. Hard-wired smoke detectors have interconnecting wires that connect them to other smoke detectors in the home. If one alarm sounds off, so will all the rest, and wherever you may be in the home, you will clearly hear their warning sounds. In addition, regulations regarding smoke detectors may require you to place hardwired smoke detectors in homes. Building codes want battery-powered type detectors to be used as backup only.
Much depends on the number of rooms that are there in the house. For complete protection, you should ensure that every room is fixed with a smoke alarm. The placement will also differ on the type of home you live in. For a single-level house, smoke alarms in the hallway should be good enough. For more than one level, ensure that both floors have adequate protection and placement is such that the alarm can alert you audibly.
You could probably go in for ionization or photoelectric detectors since both are well-equipped and effective. Ionization detectors respond more quickly to flaming fires with smaller combustion particles while photoelectric detectors respond more quickly to smoldering fires. You should avoid using ionization detectors in the kitchen as they are likely to sound off alarms from normal cooking due to their sensitivity to minute smoke particles.
Related Information
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