ᐅ Smoke Alarms: Which Rooms Truly Require Them?

Created on: 16 Oct 2019 07:36
B
bandchef
Hi everyone,

Our move-in date is coming up soon, and our electrician asked us where and in which rooms we want smoke detectors. These are devices usually mounted on the ceiling with a lifespan of 10 years. After that, the non-replaceable battery runs out, and the whole unit needs to be replaced.

House layout:
Upper floor: Child 1, Child 2, Bedroom, Walk-in closet (access only through the bedroom), Upper floor hallway (0)
Staircase
Ground floor: Kitchen, Dining area, Living area (both rooms combined into a relatively large open living space of about 62m² (667 ft²) without separation), Ground floor bathroom, Pantry, Hallway
Staircase
Basement: Utility room, Laundry room, Storage room (currently just an empty room intended for storing items like bicycles, things to keep, etc.), Office

My proposal is as follows (the numbers in parentheses indicate the number of smoke detectors):
Upper floor: Child 1 (1), Child 2 (1), Bedroom (1), Walk-in closet (access only through the bedroom) (0), Upper floor hallway (0)
Staircase (0)
Ground floor: Kitchen (1), Dining area (0.5), Living area (0.5) (both rooms combined into a relatively large open living space of about 62m² (667 ft²) without separation), Ground floor bathroom (0), Pantry (0), Ground floor hallway (1)
Staircase (0)
Basement: Utility room (1), Laundry room (1), Storage room (currently just an empty room intended for storing items like bicycles, things to keep, etc.) (0), Office (1)

* The two 0.5 smoke detectors mean that one smoke detector will be installed in the transition area between the dining and living areas.

Would you do it this way?
What is the situation in case of fire? Is there some kind of building fire safety regulation for single-family homes? If yes, would my plan comply with it?
M
Michlhausbauaa
19 Oct 2019 16:05
There are separate regulations for this.
G
Gartenfreund
22 Oct 2019 02:53
Some time ago, I also replaced our smoke detectors, which were over 10 years old.

The new ones are from the same manufacturer as the old ones and are again interconnected by wiring, since the cables were already in place.

The detectors are powered by 9 V batteries.
I’m not keen on detectors with built-in batteries.

Costs:
Smoke detector approx. €19 (about $21)
If a wireless module is desired, then an additional approx. €31 (about $34).

So, about €50 (about $55) each in total.

I think installing wiring is cheaper, especially if you do it yourself, which is not complicated. Mounting the detectors can also be done yourself.

I’ve borrowed your list and marked in red where I disagree with your points. But that’s just my opinion.

Upper floor: Child 1 (1), Child 2 (1), Bedroom (1), Walk-in closet (access only through bedroom) (0), Upper floor hallway (1), Stairwell (1)

Ground floor: Kitchen (0), Dining area (1), Living area (1) (both rooms combined in a relatively large living space of about 62 m (204 ft)² that is not separated), Ground floor bathroom (0), Pantry (1?), Ground floor hallway (1), Stairwell (1)

Basement: Utility room (1), Laundry room (1?), Storage room (currently just an empty room intended for storing things like bicycles, items to be kept, etc.) (1), Office (1)


By pantry, it probably means the larder. If a freezer or similar device will be placed there, I would install a detector as well.

Hallway and stairwell: are they separate? If yes, then I would install one in both the hallway and stairwell; otherwise, one on each floor should suffice.

There should be no smoke detector in the kitchen, but rather a heat detector.

Depending on the type of heating system, I would also install a CO detector.

And yes, the devices should definitely be interconnected so that if one detects something unusual, all of them will sound an alarm.

Now I’m curious if the original poster will respond to this topic again.
E
Egon12
5 Nov 2019 14:55
The problem with smoke detectors that do not have built-in batteries is the sensor, which does not last forever.
It is better to replace them completely every 10 years than to have a smoke detector on the ceiling that no longer works at some point.
G
Gartenfreund
6 Nov 2019 02:42
@Egon12

I don’t understand your post.

Do you mean that in a smoke detector with a built-in battery, the infrared diode or photodiode works better than in one with a replaceable battery?

That is probably not the case.

By the way, smoke detectors have an expiration date. They should be replaced after 10 years regardless.
W
world-e
7 Nov 2019 08:38
Gartenfreund schrieb:

@Egon12

I don’t understand your post.

Do you mean that the infrared diode or photodiode in a smoke detector with a built-in battery is better than in one with a replaceable battery?

That’s probably not the case.

By the way, smoke detectors have an expiration date. They should be replaced after 10 years regardless.


He probably means that smoke detectors should be completely replaced every 10 years anyway (as you also wrote) because that is when the sensors reach the end of their service life. Therefore, you can also use smoke detectors with a 10-year battery. This eliminates the need to change the 9V battery. However, whether those with a fixed 10-year battery actually last the full 10 years remains to be seen.