What is better than a Smoke Detector ?? --- UPDATE

[Fredo]

Now your talking! I am going to install one those redneck detectors above my stove after it is installed this Thursday! Only thing is my kids are gonna end up poppin it on my stove....


Fredo

 

[velvetfoot]

You want to look for a latching model, so that you know which one caused the alarm-helpful when you have a boatload of them interconnected.
The old BRK combos, like I said, didn't work right for me, but I think they have a new model.
I put the wireless pe models in the garage and they also interconnect to the inside wired system.
I got the ac only powered ones for the inside to save on the battery hassle. I figured I have several wireless battery units in the house (to get the radio signal to the garage), and the wired/battery CO units.
I've had no false alarms, except for some spiders in the garage detectors.

 

[rwhite]

Don't rely on a wife with a sensitive nose. My bet is that she is a light sleeper and woke up and smelled it. Olfactory senses (smell) are essentially non-existant to shut off when sleeping. People will often be startled by a noise and wake and the first sense they get is smell so they attribute waking up to smell when it was really the noise. I have an old home where the detectors rae not hardwired. I use 1st alerts from the big box store and have been able to alway set them off when testing.

 

[Larry in OK]

I put in new smoke and Co detectors when I bought the new stove. the old ones were getting, well, old.
The day we finished the install on the stove the wife cooked a big ham in the oven to feed my helpers. She spilled a bunch of juice when she took it out of the oven.
Next morning I got up stoked up the wood stove and turned on the oven to start getting breakfast ready. The crap burning off in the oven set the smoke detector off.
So far I haven't gotten enough smoke in the house from the stove to set off the smoke detectors.

 

[Geoff C]

Massachusetts code is something like this:

Any detector within 10 (might be 20) feet of a kitchen or bath should be photoelectric. Carbon on each floor of living space and any floor with furnace/stove. Smoke at the bottom of every floor landing, smoke in each bedroom and smoke in the hallway within 10 feet of each bedroom entrance.

 

[raygard]

Many Thanks for all your replies. It is truly a comforting feeling that I can post a blunder here in the forum and ask why and get good advice.

We sat down at dinner last night and did a post mortum on 'the incident'. We came up with a plan of who would do what if the situation arose again,
and had the kids faithfully repeat the rally point if all hell broke loose.

Thank you All

Ray

 

[ajreid]

When doing a remodel or building a new house sheetrock dust can ruin a detector

 

[raygard]

UPDATE:
Well the stove has been off all week. Mainly, in part, due to the warmer nights, yet also due to the old proverb "once bitten, twice shy". I got off from work at 5.30pm and of course it's dark as midnight outside and I drive home (the house is at the bottom of a Cul-de-Sac down a hill). I turn onto our street and my heart goes into my mouth and my gut contracts to the size of a Walnut. There, infront of the house, are two fire trucks. Their lights blinking the ominous "your screwed" red. No firefighters to be seen (that's not good). No wife and kids to be seen (that ain't good either). I walkup the drive and into the open garage and through the garage door. The other side of which is family room and the wood stove. With lots of trepidation I hold the door nob (actually touched the door with the back of my hand first to see if it was warm) expecting to see a dozen firefighters with breathing apparatus standing over the top of the stove, all with axes. And opened the door. There were 6 fire fighters all looking at the smoke alarms in the house, adding new ones, removing old ones (apparently it's a public service that they do). My wife had called the county fire department and ended up speaking to the head fire marshal and explained the situation about the fire alarms and the fact that they didn't go off. She put the phone down, went upstairs to change my daughter and then heard a thumping on the door. Opens to 6 big fellas. The kids were delighted, looking out the window see the engines with flashing lights and all.

They did say a couple of things of interest. 1) our fire alarms were too old (the replace the old ones) 2) two of the fire alarms were on the stair wells (these are hardwired) and said that they were quite useless as they weren't in a location where the smoke would collect 3) instaled 2 more smoke alarms (one at the top of the stairs on the bedroom level, where smoke would collect and in the living room where the wood stove is yet on the furtherest point from the stove.

My heart, only now is coming back down to a semblance of normalacy. They did ask me how often I cleaned the chimney (once a month durning burning season with also a clean at the beginning and end of the season) and asked what I had learned from the "smoke out".

A Special tip of the hat to FFJake, you were the spur for my wife to call the Fire Department and to get them to come around.

The stove ran last night. Many Thanks to all who commented.

Ray

A Wife with a sensitive nose.

Sound asleep at 1.50am this morning I hear my wife screaming "Ray, there's lots of smoke, check the fire. I'll get the kids". Instantly my eyes fly open adrenalin starts kicking. Sure as eggs, smell lots of smoke. Bolt out of bed and hands collides with chest of drawers (may have fractured bones in hand) and fly down stairs and toward the stove (VC Encore #2550). A lot of smoke in the living room where the stove is but, thank my luck stars, no fire. That is no fire on the outside of the stove and no fire on the inside of the stove either. Wife screaming at kids to wake them up. I look through the glass doors and "Whump" from the stove and more smoke. Phew, Backpuffing. Open the air, fire picks right up. Call out to wife that all is ok. Kids back to bed, open windows, start freezing, turn on blower to assist in cycling air through the filter. Calm down on the adrenalin.

Prior to going to sleep at 11.30 I had put more wood into the stove and because it was late I didn't allow enough time to "gently" choke the air off and the backpuffing must have started later on and then slowly, through convection, cycled upstairs. In hindsight, I am amazed that the smoke alarms didn't go off (tested regularly, new batteries the works) but they didn't go off. So, after my tale, I know that a couple of firefighters are part of the crew of hearth.com, here is my question. At what point do smoke detectors sound off. In my old house the smoke detector was next to the kitchen and when something got burnt the alarm would sound (rather regularly), yet in this house the smoke detectors are in all the stairwells and the room where the stove is yet the alarm didn't go off. How sensitive are these things.

Alls well that ends well, yet I thought I'd pass my tale on. Don't choke your system down too fast.

Ray

 

[Hass]

Thanks Jake.
I use an electric heater in my bathroom at night so the lines don't freeze so I keep a smoke detector in there... Well one day I switched the detector in there with another detector for a stupid reason... But anyway I was taking a shower that night and the detector went off and scared me to death. So I reach out of the shower and smack the silence.... Then a few minutes later it goes off again... This time I rip the battery out as well -.-
I figured it had something to do with the steam, since it was fine for the months that I had it but now kept going off. I just went and looked at what type it is, and it's ion. :|
I guess that solves that mystery

 

[Loco Gringo]

Well, I suppose that's it for now . . . have I bored you silly?

I hardly think so Jake. You possibly saved a life by sharing this with us. This is a very informative post, and as a father of 2 with a wife I sure do appreciate what youve shared with us.

 

[firefighterjake]

UPDATE:
Well the stove has been off all week. Mainly, in part, due to the warmer nights, yet also due to the old proverb "once bitten, twice shy". I got off from work at 5.30pm and of course it's dark as midnight outside and I drive home (the house is at the bottom of a Cul-de-Sac down a hill). I turn onto our street and my heart goes into my mouth and my gut contracts to the size of a Walnut. There, infront of the house, are two fire trucks. Their lights blinking the ominous "your screwed" red. No firefighters to be seen (that's not good). No wife and kids to be seen (that ain't good either). I walkup the drive and into the open garage and through the garage door. The other side of which is family room and the wood stove. With lots of trepidation I hold the door nob (actually touched the door with the back of my hand first to see if it was warm) expecting to see a dozen firefighters with breathing apparatus standing over the top of the stove, all with axes. And opened the door. There were 6 fire fighters all looking at the smoke alarms in the house, adding new ones, removing old ones (apparently it's a public service that they do). My wife had called the county fire department and ended up speaking to the head fire marshal and explained the situation about the fire alarms and the fact that they didn't go off. She put the phone down, went upstairs to change my daughter and then heard a thumping on the door. Opens to 6 big fellas. The kids were delighted, looking out the window see the engines with flashing lights and all.

They did say a couple of things of interest. 1) our fire alarms were too old (the replace the old ones) 2) two of the fire alarms were on the stair wells (these are hardwired) and said that they were quite useless as they weren't in a location where the smoke would collect 3) instaled 2 more smoke alarms (one at the top of the stairs on the bedroom level, where smoke would collect and in the living room where the wood stove is yet on the furtherest point from the stove.

My heart, only now is coming back down to a semblance of normalacy. They did ask me how often I cleaned the chimney (once a month durning burning season with also a clean at the beginning and end of the season) and asked what I had learned from the "smoke out".

A Special tip of the hat to FFJake, you were the spur for my wife to call the Fire Department and to get them to come around.

The stove ran last night. Many Thanks to all who commented.

Ray

A Wife with a sensitive nose.

Sound asleep at 1.50am this morning I hear my wife screaming "Ray, there's lots of smoke, check the fire. I'll get the kids". Instantly my eyes fly open adrenalin starts kicking. Sure as eggs, smell lots of smoke. Bolt out of bed and hands collides with chest of drawers (may have fractured bones in hand) and fly down stairs and toward the stove (VC Encore #2550). A lot of smoke in the living room where the stove is but, thank my luck stars, no fire. That is no fire on the outside of the stove and no fire on the inside of the stove either. Wife screaming at kids to wake them up. I look through the glass doors and "Whump" from the stove and more smoke. Phew, Backpuffing. Open the air, fire picks right up. Call out to wife that all is ok. Kids back to bed, open windows, start freezing, turn on blower to assist in cycling air through the filter. Calm down on the adrenalin.

Prior to going to sleep at 11.30 I had put more wood into the stove and because it was late I didn't allow enough time to "gently" choke the air off and the backpuffing must have started later on and then slowly, through convection, cycled upstairs. In hindsight, I am amazed that the smoke alarms didn't go off (tested regularly, new batteries the works) but they didn't go off. So, after my tale, I know that a couple of firefighters are part of the crew of hearth.com, here is my question. At what point do smoke detectors sound off. In my old house the smoke detector was next to the kitchen and when something got burnt the alarm would sound (rather regularly), yet in this house the smoke detectors are in all the stairwells and the room where the stove is yet the alarm didn't go off. How sensitive are these things.

Alls well that ends well, yet I thought I'd pass my tale on. Don't choke your system down too fast.

Ray

Sounds like a quality fire department . . . and they clearly know their stuff.

 

[firefighterjake]

Shucks . . . thanks guys . . . just doing my job.

 

[Flatbedford]

Thanks Jake. I know that I have to upgrade all my detectors in the house. How do I know what kind and where is best to locate them? My house is older so they will all be battery powered units. We do have an ADT alarm system, but i'd like to install my own stuff. Do you know of any online resources where I can learn what will be best for my house?

 

[velvetfoot]

Locations, as per BRK (First Alert):
http://www.brkelectronics.com/faqs/diy/recommended_locations_for_smoke_alarms

OneLink wireless interconnected smoke, co, and smoke/co combo
http://www.brkelectronics.com/products/battery/oneLink

I have several OneLink smoke detectors and they have been good with respect to nuisance alarms and battery life. Range is not totally awesome.

Edit: They are also "latching", which means that a light blinks on the unit that initiated the unit, even after it self-clears.

 

[firefighterjake]

Location: Every level of the house, in the bedrooms and in the hallway outside the bedrooms . . . that said "more" is usually better . . . as long as they're not placed in typical problematic areas such as the kitchen, boiler room, laundry room, bathroom, etc.

While I cannot endorse a specific product through work, I've had good luck with the BRK/First Alert products . . . Kidde kind of ticked me off when I tested one of their detectors for a home owner and they came back saying I was not holding the canned smoke at the correct distance or some BS like that . . . I like the combo ion/photo-electric detectors . . . also 10-year battery ion detectors . . . andf the One Link is a neat idea for folks looking to link their detectors for a more completion alarm system.

 

[velvetfoot]

Based on personal experience, I can say there is one BRK model you want to avoid: the OLD MODEL photo/ion combo, the SA773CN, http://www.brkelectronics.com/product/SA773CN. The new one, 3120B, has some nice features, and hopefully it doesn't have many false alarms as the old model.

» Two Latching Features - Alarm Latch and Low Battery Latch

» Two Silence Features - Alarm Silence and Low Battery Silence

» Two AA Battery Backup

» Optipath 360 Technology

» 10-Years Limited Warranty

 

[nate379]

I seem to test mine out every time I try to cook! hahahaha!

 

[maverick06]

I wanted to bring this up again... mainly to say THANKS FIREFIGHTER JAKE

After you enlightened us on why the smoke detectors didnt go off (probably wrong sensor) I have since gone through the house and replaced the old ones with new ones. Guess what, the ones in the house were marked "replace in (wait for it) 2003" The stamping was neatly impossible to see, but they all had to go. I just used a basic 4 pack (ionizing sensor) for those, since I had them. And just ordered a dual sensor one for the main location in the house smoke detector (the one that would get the smoke from the stove also. might add in another dial sensor detector later, but for now I am very happy with the setup.

Thanks for the info, i didnt know smoke detectors had an expiration date, or what the difference was in the sensor technology! Seriously, thanks! I hope I never *really* have to thank you though.

Oh, and the plus, the new detector uses AA batteries, instead of a 9v, thats way cheaper (I didnt go with a 10 year battery detector)

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks Maverick . . . seriously . . . thanks . . . fire safety is what I do . . . and it's always very rewarding to have someone say that they acted on my "preaching" . . . hopefully you'll never have to put the smoke detectors to the test.

 

[Ubookz]

I have 2 Kidde ionization alarms- "constant pulsating alarm indicates that combustion particles have been detected" They have both gone off when I was burning in the new stove, I could smell the hot paint smell but no visible smoke. Both are installed above door ways to bedroom and kitchen .It says to replace unit in 10 years, also has a expiry date of 2020. Along with that I have a Kidde 3 pd. 5-10 oz fire extinguisher.

There was another type of detector that covered another kind of combustible; think I will go look at that one also.

At first with the new install(it was inspected and approved) I felt apprehensive about fire safety and sleeping while the stove was operating but it has proven to be safe.