Know When To Go! React Fast To
Smoke Detectors

Test Your Detectors!

After prevention, smoke detectors are your first line of defense against fire and can cut the risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half. In recent years, roughly three fifths of home fire deaths have occurred in homes without smoke detectors. In 1994, a total of 3,425 people died in home fires. More than half of all fatal home fires happen at night. Inexpensive household smoke detectors can mean the difference between life and death. They sound an early warning in the event of fire, waking people before they are overcome by smoke and poisonous gases and giving them time to escape. But a smoke detector can't save your life if it isn't working. In 1997, National Fire Prevention Week is devoted to educating the public about reacting fast to a fire and knowing when to go. Increase your odds of escaping a fire by following these simple steps in maintaining you smoke detectors.

• Once a month: Check the operating status of every smoke detector in the home.

• Once a year: Replace all detector batteries. NFPA suggests changing all detector batteries on the Sunday in October when you change your clocks back from Daylight Saving Time. Here is an easy reminder: Change your clocks; change your batteries.

Smoke Detectors Facts and Statistics

According to a 1995 study by the National Fire Protection Association:

• As of 1994, 93 percent of U.S. homes had at least one smoke detector installed.

• Nearly half of the home fires occurred in homes with no smoke detectors.

• Roughly three-fifths of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes without smoke detectors.

• Approximately one-fifth of all homes have some detectors that do not work properly.

• The primary reason for detector failure is dead, disconnected, or missing batteries.

• Some reasons for dead, disconnected, or missing detector batteries include: a lack of routine power testing and battery replacement; disabling detectors to prevent nuisance alarms; borrowing batteries for other purposes; and disconnecting batteries without replacing them in response to a detector's low-power warning alerts.

• Smoke detectors can also fail to perform properly because of age or excessive dirt.

NFPA Recommends

• Monthly check-up

Test your smoke detectors once a month, following the manufacturer's instructions, and replace any battery too weak to sound the alarm.

Heed the warning Most battery-powered detectors "chirp" to alert you when their battery power is low. When you hear the warning, replace the batteries; don't just disconnect them.

• Time for a change

Replace smoke detector batteries routinely on the same day each year. NFPA suggests the last Sunday in October-the day you roll the clocks back from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time each fall. Change your clocks; change your batteries.

• Don't borrow trouble

Too often people disable smoke detectors by removing their batteries for other uses. Never "borrow" batteries from a smoke detector.

Maintenance

Dealing with false alarms

Many smoke detectors are not recommended for use in kitchens, bathrooms, or garages where cooking fumes, steam, or exhaust fumes can set off the alarm when there is no fire. Yet many people simply disconnect smoke detector batteries in an effort to prevent these nuisance alarms. If your home is plagued by false alarms, don't disable your detector-relocate it away from the kitchen or bathroom, or install an exhaust fan. Cleaning your detector regularly, according to the manufacturer's instructions, may also help. If nuisance alarms persist, replace the detector.

Clean your smoke detectors Clean your detectors regularly, according to your smoke detectors, according to the manufacturer's instructions. And never paint any part of a smoke detector.

•  Replace detectors every 10 years

Home smoke detectors have a life expectancy of about 10 years. Replace any detector that is more than 10 years old.

Where To Install Smoke Detectors

NFPA recommends that every home have a smoke detector outside each sleeping area (inside as well if members of the household sleep with the door closed) and on every level of the home, including the basement. The National Fire Alarm Code, developed by NFPA, requires a smoke detector inside each sleeping area for new construction. On floors without bedrooms, detectors should be installed in or near living areas, such as dens, living rooms, or family rooms.

For extra protection, NFPA suggests installing detectors in dining rooms, furnace rooms, utility rooms, and hallways. Smoke detectors are not recommended for kitchens, bathrooms, or garages-where cooking fumes, steam, or exhaust fumes could set off false alarms-or for attics and other unheated spaces where humidity and temperature changes might affect a detector's operation. In stairways with no doors at the top or bottom, position smoke detectors anywhere in the path of smoke moving up the stairs. But always position smoke detectors at the bottom of closed stairways, such as those leading from the basement, because dead air trapped near the door at the top of a stairway could prevent smoke from reaching a detector located at the top.

Mount detectors high on a wall or on the ceiling. Wall-mounted units should be installed so that the top of the detector is 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) from the ceiling. A ceiling-mounted detector should be attached at least 4 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) from the nearest wall. In a room with a pitched ceiling, mount the detector at or near the ceiling's highest point. In unfurnished rooms, such as basements, detectors should be mounted on the bottom of the joists. Don't install a smoke detector too near a window, door, or forced-air register where drafts could interfere with the detector's operation.