According to the National Fire Protection Association, “When smoke alarms fail to operate, it is usually because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead. Almost one-quarter of the smoke alarm failures was due to dead batteries.” Smoke alarms play a vital role in keeping our homes protected. Fire can leave many people devastated and completely destroy somebody’s property. However, with proper smoke alarm installation and maintenance, sometimes tragedy can be avoided.
Take some time to regularly monitor your fire alarms and make sure they are working properly. You can go through your home and test each fire alarm to ensure that the batteries are still working. Make sure you always have extra batteries on-hand in case you have to change a set. Read the tips below and make any necessary changes to your fire protection equipment inside of your home.
- You should have smoke alarms installed on every level of your home. This includes your basement, main floor, and any other additional levels.
- There should be a smoke alarm outside of every sleeping area in your home.
- New homes are required by law to have a smoke alarm in every room that is slept in.
- Consider getting hard-wired smoke alarms in your home because they are interconnected with all the other smoke alarms in your home. Hard-wired smoke alarms also have a battery backup in case of a power outage.
- If you or someone in your home is deaf, hard of hearing, or a very heavy sleeper– it would be a smart idea to install smoke alarms that combine flashing lights, vibration, and sound.
- Smoke alarms should not be mounted any more then 12 inches away from the top of the ceiling.
- You should not mount smoke alarms near windows, doors, or ducts.
Proper maintenance and installation of smoke alarms is key to keeping your home safe. However, sometimes even the highest quality of smoke alarm systems can fail. That is why there is great local fire department teams in the Central Wisconsin that work hard to keep us protected. To give back to these individuals we offer great insurance discounts for volunteer firefighters and EMT/EMS providers. You can find out more about these discounts on our website.
By: Hannah Schaenzer