Smoke alarms – scary!

December 1 is smoke alarm day, and in connection with this, the Vestfold Municipal Fire Service (VIB) has issued a strong warning on social media.

does not work

They say they’ve come to places where smoke detectors don’t work on certain fire calls.

– Almost worse are the places where the smoke detector is hanging from the ceiling, but without a battery. A cruel false sense of security, when we know there is a 55 percent lower chance of dying in a fire in homes with smoke alarms, they write, among other things, on Facebook page.

Everyone is required to have smoke alarms in the home, and it is important to know the regulations regarding their use. For example, the minimum requirements for how many you must have, where you must place them, and the type and replacement of the battery.

– There should be at least a working detector or smoke alarm on each floor, which should cover the kitchen, living room, the area outside the bedrooms and the area outside the technical rooms. The alarm should be clearly audible in the living room and bedroom when the doors between rooms are closed. The acquisition, location, control, and maintenance of an adequate number, location, control, and maintenance of smoke alarms and firefighting equipment is the responsibility of the homeowner. If the smoke detectors are more than 10 years old, the landlord must replace thissays the fire service.

The production date can be found on the underside, so you should take a look every now and then to see if it is time for a change.

– We can see what would have been many fires. Lives could have been lost, says information consultant Arnt E. Folvik at VIB for DinSide.

He points out that there is very little help with a non-functioning smoke alarm.

– Many say they have smoke alarms, but many can’t remember the last time they tried them. Urges to press the test button.

He also wants people who have difficulty testing a smoke detector to ask their neighbors for help.

– We see how sad he is when he’s not working, and how well things go when he’s working, he says.

The smoke alarm trick that saves lives

Installed incorrectly

However, many people who have smoke detectors install them incorrectly. This is what Magnus Larsen, security advisor in the Alarm sector, tells us National Homeowners Association:

– The mistake we’re seeing unfortunately happen again is that people put a smoke detector on top of the cupboard. And there it stays. It is actually surprisingly common. Most people have some plan to fix it. But then you might be reluctant to drill into the concrete ceiling, or install something in the freshly painted surfaces. Surprisingly, many also allowed beauty to weigh them down. They simply don’t want the alarm on the ceiling because they don’t think it looks nice.

If the smoke detector is placed incorrectly, it will affect its functionality.

– I’ve also seen smoke alarms installed in the inner corner of a room, not visible as far as possible, or projected sideways to the wall. Even inside the closet. Unfortunately, none of these solutions are particularly favorable, Larsen says.

So where should you put the smoke detector? Lovdata.no offers the following recommendations in a file Regulations on fire prevention measures:

Homeowners and vacation homes should ensure that the buildings have fire alarm systems or a sufficient number of smoke detectors. There should be at least one smoke detector or alarm on each floor, which should cover the kitchen, living room and the area outside the rooms. Sleeping and area outside technical rooms. The alarm should be clearly audible in the living room and bedroom when the doors between rooms are closed.”

So it gives a false alarm

The homeowners further explain that it might be a good idea to change if you have an old smoke detector.

Optical smoke detectors “see” particles that develop in smoldering fires and slowly developing fires. On the other hand, the ionic reacts with gas molecules in the air from high-energy fires, the union writes.