In the event of a fire, a smoke alarm’s warning signal can save your life and those of your loved ones. Roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms or alarms that aren’t working.
Here are some smoke alarm tips to help keep you and your family safe:
- Ensure that your home has smoke alarms inside every sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level. If you have a large home, you may need extra alarms.
- Place smoke alarms on the ceiling or high on a wall. To reduce false alarms, keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen – at least ten feet from the stove.
- Install interconnected smoke alarms so that when one smoke alarm sounds, they all sound.
- Test all smoke alarms at least once a month by pressing the test button.
- Verify that you have both kinds of smoke alarms in your home. Ionization alarms respond more quickly to flaming fires, while photoelectric alarms respond more quickly to smoldering fires.
- If you are hard-of-hearing or deaf, install special alarms that have strobe lights and bed shakers.
- Replace all smoke alarms every ten years.