Smoke detectors

[scotman]

Does anyone else have problems with smoke detectors being too sensitive.
I have had several over the years and all seem overly sensitive. The instructions say that one should be in the kitchen mounted high up. I have tried that and found it totally unsuitable due to it going off every time I grill something.
I have now got it in the hall about as far from the kitchen as possible and it still goes off occasionally.
Anyone else suffer from this and what do you do?

thanks

[anneasquith]

i do , and its not even in my kitchen, but at least i know its working !

[welshlibranr]

same here scotsman!............I close off the kitchen and leave the back door open wide!................ok now, not good in winter!............there we go!..........only thing that works!..........

[karenmac60]

I've got one in my hallway and I made the terrible mistake of lighting an inscence stick before going for a shower last week. It's a new, wired detector and it had never gone off till then - by god it gave me a fright (and any neighbours who may have seen me running round, starkers, waving a towel to make it stop) ;)

[scotman]

Any excuse to make an exhibition of yourself!. Mine is battery so I have to take it off the wall and move it into clean air.

[anneasquith]

fezzy, now that just being silly :)

[karenmac60]

Damn, you've worked out my sordid plot for flashing the neighbourhood ;)

[ummmm]

I always have had them wired up to the fuse box (that might be a girls way of explaining it) and have never had a problem with them going off.

[welshlibranr]

We have the mains ones that have a rechargeable back up battery fitted, last week the batteries decided not to recharge!........2 of my alarms were going off at 12.30 am!.........woke up me and the neighbours!.........not good!..........replaced them now, still dont trust them!.........

[gazzawazza]

We fit these every day at work, and we never fit them in kitchens.
When I fit them always I put them in the hallway about 1 - 1.5m from the kitchen door so that any smoke coming out of the kitchen will try to go up the stairs and hopefully will operate the detector.
I do always tell people to keep the kitchen door shut when cooking. The ones we fit now have a reset button so that if you set it off accidentally you can silence it for about 8 minutes which gives you time to disperse the fumes by opening the kitchen windows and scrape the black bits off the toast! You coud ring your local fire station and see if they fit these type, and if they do they should fit them for free (we do).
Obviously smoke alarms can be a pain but I still wouldn't be without them, they can be lifesavers.

[alavahalf]

Last year I done away with our kitchen on the first floor, and have fitted a new one on the ground floor.Ever since then our smoke alarm goes off more regularly....
I suggested to the wife that the food tastes different with the kitchen being relocated.
She said ..'do you think it's because we now sit at the a full width floor to ceiling window and gaze onto the garden while eating .. not to mention the views up to the sussex downs'...............'No' I said. It's because of the smoke alarm'..!

[The Builder]

I've always been told the best place for smokes is in the front hallway and at the top of the stairs.
Only fit one in the kitchen if you have a really good extractor over the cooker.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Your'e all fitting the wrong detectors......heat detectors should be fitted in the kitchen or at very least optical detectors.The cheap ones you get are usually ionisation detectors and these are very sensitive to small particles of smoke and will trigger and will give a false alarm.Aico detectors are amongst the better quality range ...if finances allow install 230v interconnected units with lithium cell back up.these start at about £23.

[The Builder]

Yes of course ............ HEAT detectors ................ I must keep up to date :o(

[GRUMPY]

You could buy an optical detector or a heat detector,the optical detectors will detect flames and not smoke and obiously heat detectors detect heat.
I hope this helps

[SlackAlice]

Brightspark

I have an optical fire alarm in the kitchen, causes no worries hardly ever trips. At the top of the stairs I have another which trips a lot, and is currently on my table awaiting imminent destruction!

I'm hard of hearing and a heavy sleeper (my OH says I die when I go to sleep!) so are the Aico alarms loud?

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Grumpy .....optical detectors detect large particles of smoke.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Slack...if your'e hard of hearing then I would look at getting an interconnected system with a detector above the bed.BS5839 states that a warning of 85dB is present at the bed head.
At BS towers we have a full fire alarm system with detectors in every room,cupboard,loft void, etc..and its saved our necks a few times.

[SlackAlice]

Brightspark

OK Ta, much obliged.

[gazzawazza]

SlackAlice, if you're really hard of hearing there are even vibrating pads which fit under your pillow and operate when the smoke alarm goes off. We fit these occasionally if the person meets certain criteria (ie if they live alone and are completely deaf.
Builder, I usually fit them 1 - 1.5m from the kitchen door because in many cases that's where the stairs (and the opening for the landing) are. If the person does follow my advice and keeps the door closed when cooking then the door should hold back a fire and the majority of the smoke. A small amount of smoke will escape from around the frame which should be enough to set the alarm off as it rises up the stairs. If the alarm is closer to the front door (I see loads like this) then in my opinion it has less chance of activating in the above example.
I do always advise people not to leave the kitchen when cooking but I know this sometimes happens (to answer the door, check on the kids, watch telly etc) so in my mind I'm trying to ensure that the alarm will operate when the door is closed and only a small amount of smoke is present.