Detecting fire and smoke is one of the most important safety precautions you can take. In homes, this responsibility falls on smoke detectors. These devices are designed to detect and warn occupants about a potential danger before it becomes too late, so that they may escape without injury. Fires start for many different reasons: faulty wiring, unattended cooking or candle use, cigarette butts falling into fabrics or other flammable materials – the list goes on! To keep your family safe from harm’s way while they sleep at night or play in their rooms during the day, make sure every room has a working detector installed near its ceiling.
It is important for your home to have a working smoke detector and fire alarm system. It can be scary when you hear the sound of an alarm going off, but it’s even scarier if you don’t know where it came from or what to do next. You should also make sure everyone in your household knows how to properly use them as well. This blog post will go over some safety tips for smoke detectors and fire alarms so that you can stay safe in your own home. Here are some helpful safety tips for those smoke detectors and fire alarms I was talking about earlier – because we want our families safe when they’re home together!
- Make sure that it is on all the time.
Install your smoke detector correctly and keep it on at all times. This way, if there is a fire or other emergency in an unexpected place of the house, you will have time to escape before any major damage can happen.
- Test these devices every year or more often depending on the type of device used.
Every two weeks you should test your smoke detectors by following these steps:
-Stick a vacuum cleaner hose up to the opening of each detector.
-Turn it on, and pull “hard” vacuuming for 5 seconds in order to have enough suction. -Wait 30 seconds after removing the vacuum bag before listening for any beeping sound indicating that there was an alarm activated during this process; if none is heard then all devices are working correctly!
- Check the device if batteries are in need of replacement.
Replace the batteries of your smoke detector, not just because it will keep you safe from fire but also to make sure that when a fire does occur, the sound emitted by this device is loud and clear enough for firefighters or family members in other rooms to hear.
- The general rule is to replace a smoke detector every 10 years.
Replacing a smoke alarm every ten years is an important safety tip to stay updated on, because you never know when the battery could die. You can easily find out how old your device is by checking where it was manufactured date printed on back of the unit.
- Make sure that your device is installed correctly to be able to serve its purpose.
Here are the steps to install your smoke detector:
- Check that there is nothing blocking it from venting outside of the home. If you have an extension cord, get rid of this so you don’t create a fire hazard in other areas too!
- Follow all instructions as outlined by the manufacturer and make sure everything works correctly before moving on to installing additional detectors like CO2 or photoelectric sensors
You should also ensure proper installation by contacting licenced fire experts if needed.
Conclusion
Making sure your smoke detector is working properly can be a daunting task, but it’s one that needs to happen. If you are unsure of how to maintain or test the functionality of your home’s smoke detectors, contact us and we will help get them up to snuff in no time! Your safety should not have any question marks around it. Contact our team of licenced fire experts today for all your residential homeownership needs.