Alarms with ionisation technology contain a small amount of radioactive material. Don’t worry, you won’t develop superhuman powers from it. It works by charging the particles inside the smoke alarm. Then when smoke enters the alarm, the particles change which then triggers it to beep. If your home is on one floor, one smoke alarm, preferably of the optical type, may be enough to provide you with early warning of a fire. If your long-life battery is coming to the end of its life, then it will warn you in a similar way. You’re around 8 times more likely to die in a fire if you do not have a working smoke alarm in your home. For the kitchen, you will need to have a heat alarm fitted. This is the best way of stopping false alarms when you burn the toast.

Ten-year sealed battery smoke alarms are the best option. They are slightly more expensive, but you save on the cost of replacing batteries.

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And while you’re looking into smoke alarms, give CO alarms some thought as well. A chemical reaction, which happens when carbon monoxide is present, will activate the alarm. This way you can prevent your family from succumbing to the effects of the poisonous gas. Disposable batteries are made to be thrown away. Then once all the power is used up, the battery is thrown away. The lifespan of these disposable batteries can vary pretty widely. Depending on what type of battery it is, disposable batteries may last between 7 to 15 years. The wire used is the same as what you might use for your doorbell. Of course, this could be an obtrusive solution if you have your home decorated just the way you like it. Pros: Can suit dustier areas, such as lofts, the area near your bathroom or rooms where people smoke.

In Scotland, since February 2022, interlinked smoke and heat alarms have needed to be fitted in all homes. Dwellings with no smoke alarm accounted for 38% of deaths in home fires in Great Britain. Nearly one-fifth of deaths occurred where no smoke alarm worked. If you opt for the traditional battery smoke alarm, you just need to remember to change the battery every year. We all know to use those 9v batteries, but have a few spare so you can change them as soon as you need to. If you have a smoke alarm in your hallways which likes to cheer when you do the cooking, it could be an ionisation alarm. That is because cooking fumes can also have the same effect as the radioactively-charged particles. Instead, you should consider changing it to an optical smoke alarm, which works by ‘seeing’ the smoke.CR's take: Another good choice for a battery-powered detector is the Kidde PI9010. This top-notch detector receives strong scores in our tests for flaming fires and smoldering fires. It features a hush button and runs on a single 9-volt battery, but it can't interconnect with other detectors. 2. Why does my battery operated smoke alarm keep beeping? That means on average there are 140 home fires, 30 injuries and at least one fire-related death in the UK every day. You will want to have a heat alarm in the kitchen. If you have a garage, it would be a good idea to put a heat alarm in there too.

Plan an escape from your home in advance and talk about it with your family. If a fire occurs you may have to get out in the dark and difficult conditions. Escaping will be a lot easier it everyone knows where to go. Make sure your routes remain free of any obstructions and that there are no loose floor coverings that could trip you. Having a series of connected alarms will mean you’re warned far earlier than would otherwise happen. Plus the whole household is aware of an emergency at the same time. Also, make sure you mount it where it is easy to access. Placing it above the stairs is just making life needlessly difficult for yourself. Most smoke alarms now have hush buttons, for use where false alarms can be a nuisance e.g. when cooking. The alarm lets you know it’s been silenced by “chirping” or by displaying a red light – while a real fire producing lots of smoke will set it off anyway. Another helpful technology is the ‘Sleep-Easy Function’ which allows you to silence the alarm if a low battery beep starts in the middle of the night.

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If your home is on one level, you should fit the alarm in the hallway between the living and sleeping areas. If you have only one smoke alarm and two floors, put it where you can hear it when you are asleep – on the ceiling at the top of the stairs leading to the bedrooms. When disaster strikes in the middle of the night, they are there to alert you with plenty of time to get your family out. However, they can only do that if you have one installed and it works. These are one of the most popular 9v batteries used for smoke alarms for a good reason. They’re dependable and they’re affordable. A smoke alarm could save your life one day. I suspect you already know that smoke alarms will warn you of a fire, giving you time to react. They are always alert, so you can relax in the knowledge that you’re always protected…