Only about 30 per cent of Americans actually have an action plan for fire escape and have practiced it!
In case you hear your smoke alarm beeping, there is a reason, and it is advisable you evacuate the building immediately before the exit pathways are blocked by fire or smoke.
Depending on the smoke detectors installed in your home, you may get different warnings.
[yellowbox]For example, some interconnected talking smoke alarms will even warn you of the location of the fire and this is very advantageous because you have a rough or precise idea of where the fire was detected first.[/yellowbox]
Fire spreads quickly! Although smoke alarms based on the photoelectric sensing technology are very sensitive to heavy particles of smoke and can detect smoldering fires that take some time before bursting into flames.
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3. Plan and practice ahead with your family on how you will escape in case of a fire emergency. This builds up confidence and calmness when the real emergency situation happens.
Since the beeping of your smoke detector is the trigger of your emergency action plans, it cannot be emphasized more: the most important thing that you MUST ensure ALWAYS is that your smoke detectors are working properly. You can do this by testing them regularly – at least on a weekly basis by using the TEST button.
According to NFPA, having a functional smoke detector reduces chances of dying in a fire by 50 per cent!
4 of the Most Leading Causes of Fire
1. Cooking
2. Candles
3. Electrical
4. Smoking Materials like cigarettes
Some of the common causes of electrical fires are as a result of poorly designed circuits that do not meet electrical standards. Therefore, it is important that you ensure you engage the right people for this work.
Common mistakes include combining cookers, heaters and other appliances together with the lighting systems! Another causative factor is the use of low quality materials for high current protection e.g. circuit breakers, cables and lighting elements.
We would advise that if you are using a fluorescent tube that has a choke in its circuit, consider replacing with LED types that do not require the choke. The choke is known to be a leading cause of fire where electrical lighting was the cause of fire.
The bottom line is: BE PREPARED WITH A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN.
When you hear the wired smoke detector beeping, it can be a scary thing at first! However, staying calm and doing the right thing will help you find and resolve the issue.
Of course, if you have invested in the best type of smoke detector, then the smoke detector beeping most likely happens when there is real fire. This is because the modern smoke and carbon monoxide detector has the capability of suppressing false alarms. For example on cooking areas where there may be occasional smoke and heat or bathrooms where steam may be present during showers.
However, it is possible that the smoke alarm beeps and there is no fire. This is very irritating especially when it interrupts your sleep or causes your children or pets to panic.
Fire experts claim that there is an average of 3 minutes for you to evacuate from the time you get to hear an alarm.
It is important we differentiate smoke detector beeping and chirping.
Beeping of the smoke alarm is loud and meant to alert you of fire or presence of smoke. Chirping of the smoke or carbon monoxide detector means that the battery is low and needs replacement.
Other reasons why your hard wired smoke detector beeping for no reason include:
1. It could be a different device or appliance such as a security system, monitor, carbon monoxide alarm, or other device which has a similar low battery or alert signal chirping. It sounds crazy but it is good to confirm that the chirping actually comes from your smoke detector and not from other devices. Some prepaid electricity meters also chirp. Do not be too quick to conclude it is your smoke detector!
2. If an incompatible device or auxiliary device is wired in series to hard wired smoke alarms, it may cause the system to inadvertently chirp or beep.
3. Elements such as dust, moisture ingress or insects getting inside the device housing can affect the proper functionality of the detector hence causing unwanted alarms. Also power interruptions in hardwired alarms can result in intermittent alarms.
4. The wiring on hardwired smoke detectors may be improper. Hard wired smoke detectors will chirp every 5 seconds if the interconnect wire is grounded. The orange interconnect wire should NEVER be connected to earth; it should only be used to interconnect other smoke alarms or compatible devices.
5. It is possible that the smoke detector has finished its life cycle. A smoke detector will normally not exceed ten years. Kindly confirm at the back of your device when it was manufactured and when it is due for replacement.
However, the battery may be new and the chirping continues and none of the above factors is in effect.
Smoke detectors have internal processors that store errors. Low battery is a common error and the processor may fail to clear the error even after the old battery is replaced. Therefore to clear this error you need to reset the smoke detector.
Steps to Reset Errors if your Smoke Detector is Chirping
Please perform the following 6 steps:
🔹Disconnect the smoke detector from any source of power by removing batteries and switching off the mains circuit breaker if your smoke detector is hard wired.
🔹Remove the detector from its mounting bracket.
🔹With the source of power removed, press and hold the test button for 15-20 seconds.
🔹Replace the new battery in the detector.
🔹Reattach the breaker to mounting bracket.
🔹Restore power to the circuit breaker.
To sum up, never ignore when you find your smoke detector beeping! Try to locate the fire first before doing anything else.
If none of the above works and the smoke detector still chirps or beeps when there is no threat, we recommend that you consider replacing your smoke detector. Consider looking at our guide on wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Most people are not sure where to place smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detector. Hence you are not alone….
Generally, smoke detector placement should be done where there is vulnerability of fire and where you can hear the detector going off.
The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) recommends that smoke alarms should be placed in every floor of the home and in every sleeping area. At the same time, fires become deadly by the minute and therefore where to locate your smoke alarms matters as much as the type of the smoke alarm you are using.
NFPA standard 74 provides the guidelines on locations to install your smoke detector.
[yellowbox] Please take note that you need multiple interconnected smoke alarms to meet fire expert recommendations. [/yellowbox]
You can have the best fire alarm technology but if wrongly placed, it is not as good as it should be. Without a doubt, it will not serve the purpose!
Experts also recommend that smoke alarms should be installed at least 10 feet away from all cooking appliances! Cooking areas are more prone to having false alarms. You do not want your burning toaster to trigger the alarm.
The interconnection of alarms really helps for the simple reason that there are increased chances of you hearing an alarm sound irrespective of the location of the fire. Additionally, some smoke detectors have an inbuilt voice technology that lets you know where the fire started. For interconnected fire alarms, when one senses smoke, it triggers all the alarms to sound.
How can you know whether your smoke alarm is interconnected?
That is pretty simple. If you press the test button of one smoke detector, all the smoke detectors should sound.
If only the pressed detector sounds, then you do not have interconnected smoke detectors and it is time you invested in one. We recommend you install the wireless smoke detectors. For a detailed review of top smoke alarms, click here.
The earlier you can hear the smoke alarm warning, the sooner you can escape safely from the dangers of fire.
Special Places to Consider NFPA Smoke Detector Placement
✒️ Stairway – at least one detector at the top
✒️ Laundry and shower places have high humidity – at least 10 ft
✒️ Heat or Air Conditioning Vents – at least 3 ft away
Fire experts recommend strongly that you avoid installing your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors at the corners of your home. At least install 5 inches from the corner due to air circulation. Contrary, air flow containing the smoke or harmful carbon monoxide gas may miss the corners!
Smoke Detector Placement |Conclusion
To sum it up and as a rule of thumb, install smoke detectors in each room. If you are worried about cost, there is a variety of cost effective solutions for you.
The engineering design uses the ionization sensing technology that is very ideal at detecting flaming fires unlike photoelectric sensing technology that is most suitable for smoldering fires.
First alert smoke alarms meet UL smoke detector standards.
First Alert 9120B Features
What actually makes this model different from its predecessors? To begin with, the size and weight are almost the same with 9120.
However, the First Alert 9120B comes with standard battery backup. This definitely ensures that you are covered in case of mains power outage.
To replace the battery, simply slide the drawer on the sides, you do not have to un-mount the whole alarm. Of course, this is feature most of us appreciate for convenience.
Both 9120 and 9120B models have universal mounting brackets to make installation and replacements faster and easier.
They also have a test or silence button tamper resistant locking pins as well as latching alarm indication.
Since First alert 9120B was developed after 9120, it is more accurate and does a better job to suppress nuisance alarms.
Having compared the two First Alert models 9120 and 9120B, you should also be aware that there are newer versions of this model available in the market as well.
It has all the features of SA9120BCN but the differentiating feature is the additional adapter plugs that are meant to make easier the replacement of smoke alarms not manufactured by First Alert.
First Alert SA9120BCN Smoke Alarm Hardwire with Battery Backup
It has similar dimensions as the 9120B but slightly heavier.
It is hard wired to 120V ac mains power and has a battery backup of 9V, just like the 9120B.
It has the rest of the features available in 9120B but in addition this type can interconnect with up to 12 other first alert hard wired alarms.
Most of the hard wired smoke detectors are connected to a power source that is mostly 120V alternating current.
The batteries are provided as back up in case of main power outage. Today, there are also countless number of smoke detectors that are not hard wired. They are either battery operated or wireless.
What is the Advantage of Hardwired vs Battery Smoke Detector
Hard wired smoke detectors have several additional benefits unlike standard battery operated smoke detectors. Their primary source of power is your mains electrical connection.
Therefore, there is no uncertainty of faulty batteries or times that your smoke detector has no power (especially if you have a battery backed up smoke alarms); you are guaranteed of a functioning smoke detector at 100% of the times.
This is very important and a requirement to comply with fire safety regulations.
How to Wire Smoke Detectors
On the other hand, there has been a great technological breakthrough in the recent past and battery operated smoke alarms can also ensure that your smoke alarm is functional always.
They do this by designing an electronic system that monitors the health of the batteries. When the batteries have low level energy to sustain the smoke alarm, a chirping sound is activated that reminds you that you need to change your batteries.
Additionally, the other advantage is the ability to be interconnected with a series of other smoke detectors in the house.
Lets assume you have several rooms that you have installed your wired detectors. There is an extra cable that allows you to interconnect all your alarms. Why is this helpful?
When a fire starts in another room (where you are not physically present) and the smoke detector in that room is activated. You may be unable to hear the alarm sound immediately.
But time is of essence when there is fire! The US fire administration in its latest report “Fire in the United States 2006-2015 (19th Edition)” notes that fire doubles every 30 seconds!
The interconnections are done to enable and trigger all alarms. Thus, irrespective of your location, you will definitely hear the alarm sound of the most immediate hard wired smoke alarm near you.
It saves a lot of time for escaping because one does not need to wait until fire builds up into your room for the closest alarm to sound.
Hard Wiring Smoke Detectors in Series
Again, with current breakthroughs in fire alarm technologies, this hard wiring interconnections’ is traditional.
It works okay, but there is a lot of wiring involved. You may need to involve a technician to do all that.
That will cost you more bucks! It is even more disappointing if you are installing this kind of connections after your home has been built and finished. Since some of the cables may have to be run through your walls, drilling your already decorated and nice looking walls is inevitable.
However, you could save yourself from the costs and hustles of running cables just to deal with interconnections. The built in wireless transceiver ensures that the smoke detectors communicate to each other.
We introduce you to the best products available among wired smoke detectors that will not only maximize your protection from fire related hazards, but also save you money, time and ease of installing them.
The Best Hard Wired Smoke Detectors on Amazon
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The First Alert 9120B is preferred by many consumers because it is easy to install and detects both fire/smoke and carbon monoxide gas. If you are looking for value and an excellent safety companion, we recommend this model.
Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors Hardwired
You can reap multiple benefits from a single smoke detector unit by leveraging on additional features. For example a smoke detector in combination with a carbon monoxide detector.
You may also consider having both ionization and photoelectric sensing technology all in one detector.
Additionally, you may prefer the detector to have programmable location for voice alarm. The prices for hardwired smoke detectors are very friendly compared to wireless smoke detectors.
A hard wiring detector may require you to plan in advance while you are constructing your home or face the compromise of laying cables later. Consequently, you may have to deal with the repulsive fittings. However, a professional technician should do an excellent installation job even after the house is built and completed.
United States Fire Administration Astounding Statistics!
It is jaw-dropping to note from a recent report from the US Fire Administration that fire departments responded to a staggering 1.35 million fire calls in 2021.
The statistics has slightly improved in recent years. The report “Fire Loss in the United States During 2021” was released in September 2022. The report covers fire incidences over a period of 10 years.
For fires that occurred within residential buildings, the largest contributing factor was kitchen fires attributed to cooking at 49%. Heating equipment followed closely at 13%.
Source: NFPA Report, Home Structure Fires, October 2021
It is surprising that cooking was also a leading cause for nonresidential fires.
Electrical distribution and lighting equipment had a considerable contribution also as it accounted for 9% of reported incidences.
Also, it is interesting to note that African-Americans were most affected group of people. In fact males had a higher likelihood of dying in a fire than females. These data is primarily obtained from The National Fire Incident Reporting System.
The report notes that there is more to be done to prevent home fires! Regrettably, it is apparent that less progress has been made to reduce deaths and home fire injuries.
Replacing Wired Detectors with Battery Operated
The main reason for improvement has been due to the increased use of smoke detectors. That is a very positive fact.
We at Bottom Line of Alarm Technologies are proud of the achievement that have been realized through the use of smoke alarms. The statistics are supportive. That is to say employing technology helps to improve and guarantee safety at homes and in offices.
The report also cites the use of sprinklers and fire suppressants as another great enabler in combating fire menace in the U.S. fires. Other factors include training and awareness, fire code and standards, enhanced firefighting equipment as well as adopting safe building techniques.
As a matter of fact, always follow procedures and regulations when constructing your own house. Likewise, if you are leasing the apartment, demand to see the certificates or documents showing the owner has complied with safety standards related to fire.
[yellowbox]It has been generally observed that fires double every half a minute.[/yellowbox]
Great attention should be given to prevention, preparedness and response. Among the three, prevention is at the front line. The US Fire Administration acknowledges that prevention is best done through smoke detectors.
We have put down some thoughts on what you need to do in case of a fire. Always have a plan!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a hard wired smoke detector?
A hard wired smoke detector will have either or all of the following characteristics:
1. It is powered by 120 V AC and hence wired to the mains power supply.
2. For the case of interconnected smoke alarms, smoke detectors will send signals (talk to each other) via cables connecting them.
Do you have to replace hard wired smoke detectors?
Well, it depends on a couple of factors. If the smoke detectors are not working, you must replace them. The same applies if they are expired. We have an article with full details on when to replace your smoke detectors. You can check it here.
Additionally, if your alarms is not interconnected, and you need to interconnect (which is now a regulation that you must comply with), then consider replacing with wireless smoke detectors. You will benefit from easy and efficient setup that will require no cabling to run in your home.
Yes. All smoke detectors have an expiry date. It is usually ten years for most smoke detectors. For older models the useful life of the smoke detector (usually calculated from the date of manufacture) may be less.
You should find this information in a sticker at the back of your detector. If you are unable to tell the expiry date, it is recommended that you replace your smoke detector as they may be too old.
You need to have guarantee that you have working smoke detectors. Remember that lack of functional smoke detectors have been a leading cause of deaths in fire related incidences in the United States. Refer to this article for more information.
First Alert provides some of the best and most well known fire safety products that are compliant with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) UL2034 standard for safety. This article reviews their top first alert carbon monoxide detector and smoke alarms according to consumer feedback.
“From children and family to your home and business, our mission is helping protect the lives, well-being and valuables of our customers. Our products offer a sense of preparedness and assurance that enable a higher quality of life.” – First Alert Website
Benefits of a first alert carbon monoxide detector
The greatest advantage of first alert carbon monoxide detector is the ability to filter false alarms. In addition they possess cool features that enhance their reliability and accuracy.
The product has 10 years warranty. You will not likely need a technician to install it in your home as it is a pretty straightforward process to install and there are no cables to run or connect.
It comes as a pair (2 – PACK). The ONELINK interconnects the detectors and
It uses photoelectric smoke detector technology as the sensing technology as opposed to ionization technology. This makes it very suitable to detect smoldering fires.
It comes with a button that can be used for silencing the alarm especially when testing it
Of course to match other similar products in the market, it has inbuilt function to detect low battery and sound a warning. Battery replacement is made very easy as this device comes with a pullout battery drawer. It uses standard two AA batteries that are so easy to find.
If you have 4 rooms that you need to install smoke detectors, then you only need 2 pairs of First Alert SA501CN2 Interconnected Wireless Battery Operated Smoke Alarm. In case of fire in any of the rooms, then all the smoke detectors will go off. This increases the chance of knowing there is a fire emergency without loss of time. Every second counts in a fire emergency situation.
The expected range of communication between the wireless smoke detectors is 30 feet but could reduce due to interferences.
The limitation to this product is that it has no way of detecting carbon monoxide gases.
Unlike our first product, this product can detect both carbon monoxide gases and smoke. It uses photoelectric sensing technology to detect smoke. Additionally, it employs the most up-to-date accurate technology to detect carbon monoxide by using electrochemical carbon monoxide sensor.
First Alert carbon monoxide detector SCO5CN has a 5 year limited warranty. The downside is that it is not wireless and hence interconnecting is difficult.
The alarm is strong enough to alert you of danger (85dB). It has a different combination of alarm and lights for either carbon monoxide alert or smoke alert.
The multi-function back-lit digital screen is a special feature of this first alert carbon monoxide detector. You get to easily see status level of the device such as the battery power indicators and even much better, the carbon monoxide gas level in the area of measurement. You need not to press any button, all you have to do is look.
Other cool features of First Alert Carbon Monoxide detector CO615
It has dual Power (plug in/electric and front load battery) that ensures continuous protection. You are therefore certain that the alarm will work at all times, even during power outages.
The Peak Level feature displays the highest concentration of carbon monoxide measured since the unit was last reset
You can easily plug into any standard electricity outlet with no additional mounting necessary or it can also be mounted on any wall using the convenient power line cord which is approximately 6 feet long.
The detector meets Underwriters Laboratories (UL) UL2034 standard for safety
This is another of the wireless smoke detectors that is based on photoelectric sensing technology. Consequently, you get to enjoy the ease of wireless connectivity and the high costs associated with hard wiring to interconnect several of such devices together are eliminated. the OneLink interconnection takes care of that.
Comes with low battery warning; a simple to use silence/test button; and a pullout battery drawer for easy replacement of batteries.
You can add several battery operated First Alert ONE-LINK alarms to expand without wires
Power Source: 120-volt with 2 AA battery backup
This first alert smoke alarm is hardwired to 120V and has batteries that backup even in cases of power outage.
You can easily use this First Alert SA520B to expand your existing system of wireless smoke detectors without the need of a technician. It can support up to 18 units and can work together with other first alert carbon monoxide detector, heat sensors and relays.
In summary, a wireless first alert carbon monoxide detector saves you money, gives you the ease of interconnection and provides you with a quality reliable protection from fire and CO gases for a long period of time to come.
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