Special Considerations
Be sure you choose alarms that will alert all members of your household and help you deal with nuisance alarms.
- Smoke alarms with a recordable voice announcement in addition to the usual alarm sound may help wake up children through the use of a familiar voice.
- Smoke alarms for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing are required to have vibration equipment; some also have strobe lights.
- Alarms with a hush button allow you to quickly silence nuisance alarms temporarily.
Installation
To keep your family safe, make sure you have enough smoke alarms and they are installed correctly.
- Install alarms in every bedroom, outside every separate sleeping area, and on every level, including the basement.
- Hard-wired smoke alarms that run on household current should have battery backup in case of a power outage and should be installed by a qualified electrician.
- Interconnect all smoke alarms in your home, so when one alarm sounds, they all sound.
- Because smoke rises, mount smoke alarms on ceilings or high on walls.
- Don’t install smoke alarms near windows, doors, or ducts where drafts might interfere with their operation.
- Follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions.