Having a smoke detector installed in your home is one of the best measures of protection you can implement to safeguard your home and that can sound the alarm in case of fire, therefore, knowing where to put your new smoke alarms is one of the first things to think about when securing your home. Not only does the smoke detector works better when placed correctly, but the irregularly placed devices may not work at all, therefore, their importance of setting the things the right way is not to be neglected and represents one of the most important steps in securing your place from fire.
There are several different smoke detectors working on various principles, and the main purpose of a detector is to inform you that something is wrong. When the conditions for an alarm are met, your device sounds the alarm and the rest is up to you unless you have other additional gadgets that will act instead of you and put the fire out or call the fire brigade to help you save what is left to be saved. Namely, you might own a device that detects either ionization or photoelectric fires. Hopefully, you will acquire a device capable of sensing the both aforementioned variations, so you will be covered if one of the features fails to deliver.
Since the smoke is a prerequisite for a smoke detector to alarm anyone, placing the device where any potential fire could break would be an ideal way to deal with the issue. Since smoke goes up, because it is lighter than the air, placing your smoke detectors on a ceiling is what you should consider in the first place. That is if you have the ceiling at the place you want to cover. On the other hand, if you want to secure a factory hall, or any other similar facility, placing your smoke detectors near potentially hazardous places is what you should do. Surely, you should bear in mind that although you are not aiming as high as the ceiling might be, you should respect the fact that the smoke moves upwards and that your actions should be implemented in accordance with that knowledge.
Since we have established that we should look for high ground as a rule for placing the smoke detectors, we should consider other important segments required to be fulfilled in order for the installment to be successful.
Read the Instructions
Every set of smoke detectors comes with a brief instruction saying what you should do in order to implement the device properly. Although this suggestion may sound irrelevant and redundant to you, it is where you should pay special attention to details since there are models functioning differently from what you may have been accustomed to. The devil is in the detail, and this is the devil you do not want to play games with, especially since it is fire-related. You do not need to spend hours reading through the manual, but keeping an eye for something unusual may prove to be useful for the proper installment of the device.
Connecting Numerous Detectors
Another important feature to think about when securing your place with smoke detectors. Namely, although the saying states the more detectors you have, the higher level of security you will have, there are different options available when it comes to the coherence of these devices. For example, you could be receiving a signal from just one detector at a time, or the whole bunch of detectors may be signaling there is a fire in order for you to get informed at a faster rate. The approach to securing wider facilities with interconnected smoke detectors is more convenient than having gadgets working on their own and covering only the area around them.
If you are not sure what type of smoke detector is an ideal solution for your wants and needs, try gathering related info about the product on multiple websites dedicated to finding the adequate smoke alarm, such as x-sense.com, where they offer not only various models of detectors, but provide you with additional knowledge about home security.
The Ceiling
We have already mentioned that the ideal positioning of smoke detectors is either on the ceiling or as close to the ceiling as possible, due to the nature of the smoke to go upwards. You will install smoke detectors on a wall only if you are somehow prevented to put them all the way up, and even then, you should not go further than 12 inches from the highest spot in the room, since the usage of a smoke detector will be improper otherwise.
As long as there are things that you have to do, there will also be situations you should avoid. So read through the following lines to save yourself from potential trouble in the future.
Passages
Any open areas such are passages, doors and windows are areas to be avoided when choosing where to put a smoke detector. Not only are they frequently lower than the ideal position, but they enable air fluctuation which is quite the opposite of what we need. Therefore, keep your devices away from areas where airflow is constant.
Wet Places
Places with high humidity and wet surfaces, such as bathrooms, are not the ideal places for your smoke detectors. The moisture obstructs with smoke detectors and prevents the smoke from reaching the device itself, therefore, placing a device in front of the room before then in the room itself could be a possible solution.
Ventilation
If your ceiling has opened fans or active ventilation systems, then what you need is the alternative of the same height. Whether it would be a highly positioned place on a wall or an artificially implemented extension for the support of the device, the choice is up to you, as long as you reach the goal, and the goal is for the detector to be safeguarded from constant airflow.
Hopefully, the aforementioned segments regarding smoke detectors will prove useful when you decide to properly secure your place. Whether you know how smoke detectors function or this is the first time you encounter this subject, we are sure that you will find the previous information useful. We wish you a quality installment and hope that your smoke detectors will have nothing to detect ever!