7 smoke detectors in stove room

I would not ever call it "crazy" but perhaps a little overprotective.

Do you wear more than one seatbelt in the car?
Do you wear more than one oven mitt taking a pen out of the oven?

Suggestion: Since the stove is in the kitchen, the place there is most likely to be smoke is, in the kitchen. Perhaps a couple of those detectors could be placed in other areas of the house where smoke ISN'T supposed to be? As it is now, if one goes off all it will tell you is that there's smoke near the stove- well, no kidding.

Unless your baby sleeps in the kitchen. Then the above is moot.

bluedogz said:

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Do you wear more than one oven mitt taking a pen out of the oven?

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I think you're doing it wrong! :lol:

> but wife thinks I’m crazy, haha

Well, she is kinda' right.. but hey, what's normal?

...and who isn't a little crazy?

You will get used to your wood stove being a normal part of your utility, and the fact that it's a fire in a big metal box will become a given over time. Every once in a while we have guests at our house who are city folk.. it's like they had no idea that heat comes from anything but that magic button they press on their wall someplace. That there is actually a fire going in a box in the living room surprises them.

I replaced all my hardwired ion detectors with an ion and photo each. (There weren't any good combo units then - I think there are now). I thought they looked a little crazy, along with the CO on each floor, which are next to the two smokes, but you got me beat.

Crazy.... not crazy to want to protect your child, but maybe going overboard a tad... 3 CO detectors are you expecting a double failure? Most important place for them is in the bedroom where you and the kids sleep, and to make sure they have battery backup. I put new CO detectors in every bedroom and in my twins nursery I got an expensive model with the digital % readout and checked it every few days taht first winter with them.

Oldhippie said:

Every once in a while we have guests at our house who are city folk.. it's like they had no idea that heat comes from anything but that magic button they press on their wall someplace.

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So true. We had a get together over the holidays and one of my condo dwelling friends wife put her drink down on the stove. (you mean its not just a decorative piece?) Luckily I noticed it quickly.

If you sleep better, go for it. The most common type of house fire is caused by cooking so you have that covered. Just remember, get people out for all fires, death is permanent. Be safe.
Ed

I agree with the suggestion to spread the detectors out.

Keep one in the kitchen. Put one in each bedroom. Maybe one in the hallway. The laundry room is another good place.

I don't think you have too many, they are just poorly placed.

-SF

98dingo said:

bluedogz said:

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Do you wear more than one oven mitt taking a pen out of the oven?

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I think you're doing it wrong! :lol:

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A PAN... A PAN!!

*^@#%!

Hell I got Nine just not all in the kitchen, Dont burn the toast holly macral

Keep a fire extinguisher and an axe near your bed - you could have an electrical fire in some room you never thought about and have to knock out a window or door to get to your child.

Kind of like the idea that carrying your own bomb onto a plane precludes you from getting blown out of the sky. Odds are extremely small that you will ever be on a plane carrying a bomb - but almost imposible to be on a plane with two. Therefore, bring your own and eliminate the threat!

No bad reason to be safe, ever. But I think a second or even a third would satisfy my need for fear of equipment failure. All that said, I replaced every detector in the house with the new stove. New ones are so darn sensitive that if I get to hot, to quick the whole house is buzzing(hard wired system, one goes off, all go off). Even with out any visible detection of smoke. Just a burnt smell of who knows what from the new stove and pipe. Good news is my dog imedietly heads out his door and wont come in for hours from fear. I at least know if there is a fire while I am away he will get out quickly. I also bought one of those rope ladder deals because my dog and I sleep on the 2nd floor and I have a plan with a sleeping bag to bag him up and head down the ladder in the event of an emergency.

One more side note - I met a fire fighter on a business trip in a hotel one time that counted doors to the stair well from his room. Explained that unless you have ever been in a smoke filled hallway you have no idea what "NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE" feels like. Plan you work and work your plan. Ahead of time. Better to be prepared and not need it than the other alternative.

Bob Urban

jharkin said:

Crazy.... not crazy to want to protect your child, but maybe going overboard a tad... 3 CO detectors are you expecting a double failure? Most important place for them is in the bedroom where you and the kids sleep, and to make sure they have battery backup. I put new CO detectors in every bedroom and in my twins nursery I got an expensive model with the digital % readout and checked it every few days taht first winter with them.

Oldhippie said:

Every once in a while we have guests at our house who are city folk.. it's like they had no idea that heat comes from anything but that magic button they press on their wall someplace.

Click to expand...

So true. We had a get together over the holidays and one of my condo dwelling friends wife put her drink down on the stove. (you mean its not just a decorative piece?) Luckily I noticed it quickly.

Click to expand...

B.I.L.'s wife said last christmas, not the one just gone, "It's really hot in here can you turn the heat off?", my wife answered "not unless you want to pour a bucket of water on the fire, no".

It made me smile. You're right, some are just born in a box.

Vanskills said:

I have a 6 month old son and am so paranoid about the wood stove ( in the kitchen) that I installed 3 smoke detectors, 3 co detectors and a ion smoke detector strategically placed around the kitchen...lol, oh and I havefire extinguishers on each wall in kitchen, 4.

Am I just crazy if has anyone else done same thing?

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If you have 7 detectors and 4 fire extinguishers in the same room because you are "paranoid about the wood stove", I'm surprised you are willing to even use a wood stove.

To help reduce risk, I have a checklist I go over every time I load the stove:

1. Door closed and latched
2. Draft control on low, Bypass closed
3. Hearth area completely clear of combustibles (stray split, wood chips, dog toy)

And extremely important: BE CAREFUL WITH HOT ASHES! I put them in a steel bucket with a lid, and that bucket goes into another bigger bucket with a lid, on the bare ground.

The fire extinguishers and Detectors are great, but paying attention to daily routine is just as important.

As usual, great advice from the reg's on here.

However, the one place most likely to produce a "false positive" alarm is where you cook. As previously stated, spread them out and place them appropriately. Don't cater to the fear-mongers or you will only make some insurance man rich.

Happy and safe burning.

A combo smoke/CO detector and a fire extinguisher would be a good idea. 7 might be a little overkill

With a 6 month old I'd worry more about the little guy bumping into the stove while it's hot :bug:

Reminds me of a some people I had over a while back. Couldn't understand how wood could make heat and said I was a "caveman" for "trying" (yeah.. trying?) to heat that way.

I got a laugh out of it anyhow.

Oldhippie said:

Every once in a while we have guests at our house who are city folk.. it's like they had no idea that heat comes from anything but that magic button they press on their wall someplace.

Click to expand...

So true. We had a get together over the holidays and one of my condo dwelling friends wife put her drink down on the stove. (you mean its not just a decorative piece?) Luckily I noticed it quickly.[/quote]

OK . . . I'll put in a vote for Crazy . . . but with a caveat . . . you're not crazy for wanting to provide protection for your family, but honestly putting smoke detectors in certain places is not wise . . . as Be Green found out since every time you burn the toast, have a small spill in the oven, etc. you'll have the detector or detectors going off.

Honest opinion . . . since I really truly can say I am an expert at this since I am a certified Fire and Life Safey Education Officer in my full time job . . . take others advice and spread out your detectors. Nix the one in the kitchen . . . even if it is in the room with the woodstove. Instead make sure there is at least one on every level of the house (including the basement), in the hallway outside the bedroom and in the bedrooms.

As I said there are some bad places to put smoke detectors as you may have false alarms . . . and the problem with false alarms is after a while people get used to hearing them and no longer react to them. Bad places for smoke detectors include kitchens, bathrooms (steam can set them off), laundry rooms (humdity and dust), attics (the temp fluctuations of going from very cold temps to very hot temps plays havoc with them) and garages (nuisance alarms from car exhaust) are places where smoke detectors are typically not recommended. That said, sometimes going with a detector such as a photo-electric detector in one of these areas can reduce the likelihood of a false alarm if you insist on putting one in such a location (and truthfully I have one in my laundryroom -- a PE type -- since it is also near my oil boiler -- and I have had very few issues.)

So I really would not place a detector in the kitchen . . . and truthfully in my own home I also do not have a detector in the same room with the woodstove . . . to reduce the chances of a false alarm from any smoke infiltration. That said . . . I would not have an issue if someone was concerned enough and wanted to put a detector in the same room . . . providing it is not too close to the stove. In my own home . . . there are two detectors in the two adjoining rooms so if there ever was an issue one or both would be activated fairly quickly.

If you really insist on having some sort of detector in the kitchen you may want to investigate the price of a heat detector. Some folks install these -- albeit they are rare for residential use -- in kitchens. These activate by either going off at a pre-set temp or when the temp in the room increases by X degrees in Y amount of time . . . some people do not consider these as good as smoke detectors though since they tend to activate after smoke detectors go off . . . but my own feeling is they don't hurt and if folks sleep better at night . . . well . . . they can't be a bad thing then.

Incidentally, in case anyone is curious . . . leading causes of fires in the US. Cooking, Heating Equipment and Electrical. I only mention this since technically electrical fires could break out in nearly any room.

Final thoughts . . . since you have a youngling that cannot get out by themselves I would recommend sleeping with the child in your room or in a room very close to yours . . . as the child grows older you may also want to look at some of the newer voice-alarms . . . they've done some studies and found that some children do not wake up to the sound of a traditional smoke detector, but when voice alarms are used that use verbal warnings -- either pre-programmed or even recorded by the parent -- the child wakes up.

Feel free to ask any other questions . . . I'm crazy about fire safety.

Can't get better advice than Firefighterjakes. Excellent explanation, if only everyone would follow his advice. Be safe.
Ed

Jake,
Thanks for the previous guidance on the difference between ion/photo/both detectors and the fact they are only good for 10 years . I replaced mine. They were all LONG expired.

Thanks! I am safer now!

BobUrban said:

One more side note - I met a fire fighter on a business trip in a hotel one time that counted doors to the stair well from his room. Explained that unless you have ever been in a smoke filled hallway you have no idea what "NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE" feels like. Plan you work and work your plan. Ahead of time. Better to be prepared and not need it than the other alternative.

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I'm not the only one! I stay in hotels a lot for work, do the same thing.
I was in a hotel around Chicago, I think, and they had exit signs down low in the halls. Like about a foot off the floor. Only time I've ever seen that.

And Jake, my heat detector (heat alarm, I guess) is mechanical. It's a bell with a striker driven by a clock spring. It's supposed to ring for about five minutes, and is triggered by a 160° fusible link. Don't have to worry about batteries, but the only downside is I can't test it. Well, I can, but I'm not sure how long it would take to rewind the spring. It's made to be reusable.