Smoke alarms can be your first line of defense and early warning if a fire should occur in your home. The thick, toxic, smoke created during a fire can quickly overcome even the strongest individual so the faster you are able to get out the better. Having an escape plan, route and meeting place that is practiced with the whole family is essential. Conduct a fire drill with your entire family to see how they react and practice with lessons learned to re-assure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.
The location of smoke alarms are determined by the manufacturer’s installation instructions as well as the Fire Code. Every level of your home, including the basement and outside all bedrooms, must have a smoke alarm. A battery operated smoke alarm will meet the Fire Code if you do not have the wires available in your home to connect the device.
In addition to having a smoke alarm outside of all bedrooms, it is recommended to install a smoke alarm inside each bedroom for enhanced early warning. For increased life safety, smoke alarms may be interconnected so that when one smoke alarm goes into alarm, all interconnected smoke alarms activate. Typically, interconnected smoke alarms, or a combination device like smoke/carbon monoxide, should be of the same manufacturer to ensure the proper operation of the interconnection. Interconnected smoke alarms are connected to your home’s electrical system using three wires and ideally will have battery backup in case of a power outage. There are limits to the number of devices interconnected so be sure to read the manufacturers information to find the maximum number that can be interconnected. Review the manufacturer’s installation instructions for further information.
When purchasing a smoke alarm or combination device make sure it has a HUSH feature (a button to temporarily turn off the sounder if you have determined there is a false alarm like burnt toast and allow the smoke to be cleared) and is listed with Underwriter’s Laboratories of Canada (ULC , or equivalent U.S. testing symbol cUL). Per the manufacturer, a smoke alarm’s life span is 10 years and will have to be replaced after that time or before if it fails to function after the test button has been pressed (test your smoke alarm with the test button on a monthly basis and change the battery every year if the smoke alarm does not contain a long life type battery).
The sound of a smoke alarm is currently a continual beeping however will soon be replaced by a temporal code (new Canadian standard) that has three beeps a pause then repeats per the new Fire Code. Do not mix a new temporal sound smoke alarm with a continuous type as this will be confusing.