Smoke Alarms

Can you have your house assessed for fire risk?

Yes, you can have your house assessed for fire risk. Certainly, most brigades now are doing home fire safety visits. You can apply to your local fire service, and ask them to come around and install free smoke alarms, and to give your house an assessment for fire risk and ensure that everything is correct.

Can you get free smoke alarms from the fire brigade?

With smoke alarms, you can get free smoke alarms from the fire brigade as at this moment in time. Most fire brigades are offering a free service where they will come to your house and install free smoke alarms, and they'll do a free home fire safety visit to check that your house is safe.

How many smoke alarms should you have in your house?

With smoke alarms, you should have as many smoke alarms as possible in your house, but as a rule it's one every floor level in your house.

How often should you test your smoke alarm?

A smoke alarm should be tested at least once a week and the batteries should be replaced after a year. At least twice a year you should vacuum out the smoke alarm and certainly change it every ten years.

What is the difference between an Ionisation alarm and an Optical alarm?

Ionisation alarms use radiation to detect quick burning fires such as chip pan fires. They are the cheapest on the market ranging from 5 pounds upwards, and can be readily bought from a DIY and supermarkets. An optical smoke alarm is a smoke alarm that uses light to detect slow burning fires such as those found in electrical wiring. They are less likely to go off due to cooking and they're ideal for sighting in hallways and floors on one level. They are approximately 15 pounds and above and can be bought in supermarkets or DIY stores.

What is the purpose of a hush button on a smoke alarm?

A smoke alarm fit with a hush button: It's basically a button that allows you to silence the alarm if it's gone off accidentally through cooking. It lets you know that it's been activated by chirping, or a little red LED will display. If there is a fire, it will allow you to override the hush button and sound as normal.

What type of smoke alarms are there for people with hearing difficulties?

There are two types of smoke alarms for people with hearing difficulties. There's the strobe light smoke alarm and a vibrating pad smoke alarm.

Where should you fit your smoke alarms?

With smoke alarms, smoke alarms should be fitted at least one per level of your house or apartment. Smoke alarms should be fitted where people can hear them, mainly near your living accommodation and certainly where you're going to sleep at night. Smoke alarms should also be installed at least 30 centimeters away from a wall; the ideal place to fit it would be in the middle of a ceiling.

Where shouldn't you fit your smoke alarms?

With smoke alarms, the worst place to fit a smoke alarm would be very close to a wall or right outside kitchen because the smoke alarm would probably go off every time you cooked, such as from steam or cooking smoke.