Author Topic: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?  (Read 4990 times)

deborah

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How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« on: July 21, 2015, 04:40:12 AM »
My father is full of doom and gloom. Last time I was there he was extremely worried about his smoke detectors. After reading the fire brigade sites, I have found that they all recommend replacing smoke detectors after 10 years because smoke detectors wear out and become less able to detect smoke after that time.

Has anyone here replaced their smoke detectors after 10 years? I have one that is wired in and one that isn't. There also appear to be two sorts of smoke detectors (ionizing - detects flames - and photo-electric - detects smoke) and there are even some that have both sorts in the one unit. Some can be connected to one another so your whole house screams at you when you burn the toast.

What are the recommendations?

slugline

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2015, 05:28:29 AM »
I recently replaced all the >10-year-old detectors at my house and at my parents' place. It's not that expensive to do unless your home has hundreds of bedrooms. :) If you check yours you will probably find a "replace by" date stamped on them.

As for placement, the general rule is to place one in each bedroom and one in each common hallway. To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.

Those are the basics. Remember that their purpose is to wake you up in the event of a fire so you can get the hell out. Based on what I've been reading online, I do think I would choose photoelectric (or dual-sensing) over ionization only. And a system where "one goes off they all go off" is definitely a plus if you have a larger home.

Shinplaster

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2015, 09:51:55 AM »
Yes.  We have the dual sensing, wired in type, one on each floor.   When the 10 years is up again, we will replace them again.  Even though they are hard-wired, they are very easy to switch out, and Home Depot and Lowe's regularly put them on sale.  If you are selling your house, it's one of the things home inspectors check.

We actually had local fireman going house to house a year ago, asking to check everyone's smoke detectors.   It was voluntary, but I thought it was a great idea.  We also must have carbon monoxide detectors outside sleeping areas.  (Ontario).

MikeBear

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2015, 07:00:47 PM »
I replaced both wired smoke detectors this year after they failed. They were 24 years old.

I know, I know. I just never thought about it, and they were working up to failure, at least they still blared when we burned something in the kitchen.

TrumanGrad

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2015, 07:45:22 PM »
My brother-in-law is a firefighter in an urban area - he sees lots of fires and gets a lot of training because they get many calls involving many different situations everyday.  His recommendation is to change smoke detectors every 10 years.

StockBeard

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2015, 04:01:52 PM »
To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.
Lol, we have one right in the kitchen, and the "burnt toast" scenario happens very, very regularly. Annoying as f... (and we're renting, so not much we can do about it)

deborah

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2015, 04:05:07 PM »
To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.
Lol, we have one right in the kitchen, and the "burnt toast" scenario happens very, very regularly. Annoying as f... (and we're renting, so not much we can do about it)
If it's battery operated you can just extract the battery. And install another one somewhere more than 10 feet from the kitchen.

Rural

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2015, 07:02:36 PM »
To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.
Lol, we have one right in the kitchen, and the "burnt toast" scenario happens very, very regularly. Annoying as f... (and we're renting, so not much we can do about it)


IBC (international building code) has mandated a smoke detector in the kitchen at least since the 2006 edition, so you're not likely to get away from this.

slugline

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2015, 07:14:07 PM »
To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.
Lol, we have one right in the kitchen, and the "burnt toast" scenario happens very, very regularly. Annoying as f... (and we're renting, so not much we can do about it)


IBC (international building code) has mandated a smoke detector in the kitchen at least since the 2006 edition, so you're not likely to get away from this.

It sounds like the NFPA needs to address this in their recommendations to the public.

http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/fire-and-safety-equipment/smoke-alarms/installing-and-maintaining-smoke-alarms

I don't know about the rest of you, but there's no way I can mount one in my kitchen and have it 10 feet away from a cooking appliance!

GardenFun

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2015, 07:25:13 PM »
Ours are 13 years old and one failed....which of course happens at 11PM.....and you stand in the middle of the hallway trying to decide which one of the 4 detectors located in a 7ft. diameter is the culprit....and you have to figure it out fast because your grumpy, tired SO is standing behind you ready to rip all 4 of them off the ceiling.   

For sanity sake, replace them every 10 years.  And also replace the CO detector - because that ends up being the second 11PM item to fail.   
« Last Edit: July 29, 2015, 11:55:29 AM by GardenFun »

Rural

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2015, 07:35:17 PM »
To mitigate the "burnt toast" scenario, try not to place one within 10 feet of the kitchen.
Lol, we have one right in the kitchen, and the "burnt toast" scenario happens very, very regularly. Annoying as f... (and we're renting, so not much we can do about it)


IBC (international building code) has mandated a smoke detector in the kitchen at least since the 2006 edition, so you're not likely to get away from this.

It sounds like the NFPA needs to address this in their recommendations to the public.

http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/fire-and-safety-equipment/smoke-alarms/installing-and-maintaining-smoke-alarms

I don't know about the rest of you, but there's no way I can mount one in my kitchen and have it 10 feet away from a cooking appliance!


Huh. It goes on the ceiling, which gives several feet right there. How big is your kitchen? Surely at least over the refrigerator would qualify?


And anyway, more than ten feet does not solve the burnt toast problem, trust me.

slugline

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #11 on: July 28, 2015, 09:27:16 PM »
Huh. It goes on the ceiling, which gives several feet right there. How big is your kitchen? Surely at least over the refrigerator would qualify?

Realtor listing claims my kitchen is 13 feet by 9 feet. And the whole house has an 8-foot ceiling. They don't build suburban homes like this anymore! The ceiling above the refrigerator would be about six feet from the stovetop.

And anyway, more than ten feet does not solve the burnt toast problem, trust me.

Oh, I believe it. That's why I used the word "mitigate." :)

bobechs

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2015, 05:21:41 PM »
Replace them after every fire.

Especially if they did not go off during the fire.

deborah

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2015, 06:23:56 PM »
Replace them after every fire.

Especially if they did not go off during the fire.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE FIRES?

bobechs

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Re: How often do you replace your smoke detectors?
« Reply #14 on: July 29, 2015, 07:04:37 PM »
Replace them after every fire.

Especially if they did not go off during the fire.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE FIRES?

No more than once per set of detectors