Smoke Alarms

[DanStokes]

I just changed all five smoke alarms in the house. They were dated 2001. The fire department guys came over (they're happy to do that in most areas - we're in the county) and they said that, although ours seemed to be working, they were WAY out of date. At some point the sensor becomes unreliable so you can't count on them. Our old ones also used a non-replaceable back-up battery and there really is no tellin' what shape that's in as old as there were. So we did the pile of 'em at $20/each - cheap insurance.

I also bought 2 smoke/CO detectors, 1 for the shop with the hanging heater and one for ME's studio where we'll soon be getting a wall-mounted radiant heater. The house has electric heat so CO is not an issue but if you have heat from combustion it's a really good idea.

Just a reminder to you guys that smoke/CO detection not just one and done. Take care of yourselves and the family.

Dan

[chevybuytroy]

we have to have a house inspection every year for fostering kids so thats on list of things they check.

I think we have 5 also and one extinguisher.

[Criscobath]

Thanks. All alarmed up. Five indoors, one in the garage, and three fire extinguishers (kitchen, garage, and master bedroom - ahhhhyeah).

[pdub]

Interesting timing, my sidekick at work said today his smoke alarm woke him up last night and there was no smoke or fire. The thing was so old it was wired to the house, not even the battery type.

[70chevyC-10]

Interesting timing, my sidekick at work said today his smoke alarm woke him up last night and there was no smoke or fire. The thing was so old it was wired to the house, not even the battery type.

I think even the hard wired ones have a battery backup in the event of no power. And if it was chirping that's why. We change ours annually.

Lately spellcheck has been my worst enema.

[DanStokes]

Ours are hard wired with a battery back up, as were the old ones. Seems to be pretty much the standard deal these days. The new ones claim a 10 year battery life and by then the sensor is probably going to be iffy.

Forgot to mention - we have CO2 fire extinguishers, a 5 in the house and a 10 in the shop, each mounted near the door as recommended. If it needs more than that we're going to collect on the insurance.

Dan

[pdub]

It's odds. BUT, we're all afraid of what's 99% unlikely to happen. The insurance companies make a fortune betting against it. But the insurance companies had to pay the piper years ago with all those hurricanes. And then they wanted to quit, un-insure Florida. They're used to collecting premiums, not paying out.

But a smoke detector is a great thing.

[Damon23]

I try to tell our customers that have them tied to the alarm system that they need to change them out at 10 years no matter what. I did a fire inspection on a daycare on Thursday and the owner was not pleased when I didn't pass the system because of three older detectors and a trouble on the fire alarm. I guess she thought I'd just come out, set it off and fill out the form. No way with it being a daycare and I have to put my info on the form. One would think a daycare owner would be more proactive.

If you have a alarm system you should have at least one that ties into that system on each floor.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Oh Dan... did you not know that there is a black market for old smoke detectors? those firefighters are probably collecting those smoke detectors to make a .... wait for it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXYnAQQ_bE4

a WMD


a weapon of mass detection.

[DanStokes]

The fire guys said that our amerisium 235 (or whatever) had probably lost it's mojo so they weren't interested. Nothing to do but toss 'em in the trash.

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

lost its mojo? lol, when radiation doesn't radiate anymore... wonder if they make a little blue pill for it?

[cobra]

I try to tell our customers that have them tied to the alarm system that they need to change them out at 10 years no matter what. I did a fire inspection on a daycare on Thursday and the owner was not pleased when I didn't pass the system because of three older detectors and a trouble on the fire alarm. I guess she thought I'd just come out, set it off and fill out the form. No way with it being a daycare and I have to put my info on the form. One would think a daycare owner would be more proactive.

If you have a alarm system you should have at least one that ties into that system on each floor.

doesn't she realize that if there is a "trouble" that means something is wrong? Duh!!