Second only to ensuring that all your smoke alarms have working batteries is the fact that you need to position those little guys intelligently. If you don’t have a sense of where you should put them, you should consider following the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code 101. They recommend that you put a fire alarm on each floor, include basements, and within 15 feet of each and every sleeping area. If the door to the sleeping area is generally closed, they also recommend putting another one inside the sleeping area. When basic battery-powered fire alarms cost something in the neighborhood of $10, it’s almost foolish not to have enough fire alarms.
In fact, in new construction homes, it’s often in the code to have the fire alarms that are installed be interconnected. That way, if the basement alarm is tripped, the alarm in the third floor bedroom is activated. This ensures that everyone in the entire structure is warned of a fire, even if it occurs in the farthest corner. New rules also order that a smoke alarm be installed in each bedroom.
Post a Comment