Proper placement of a smoke alarm

Smoke alarms are CHEAP. Be generous with your installations. I've probably got one in each room of our home, plus the garage.

In Michigan (and I assume all other states?) you need a smoke alarm in every bedroom PLUS one "just outside" every bedroom and at least one on every floor. They are also required to be interconnected but that's for new construction I do believe.

In all of the bedrooms in my house the smoke alarm is located on the ceiling just inside the door. The fact that they are all this way leads me to believe it's by design.

Smoke detectors are quite prolific in newer homes. I just replaced all of mine last year because they had their 10 year birthday and found I had 10 smoke alarms in a 4 bedroom home. They are cheap when buying one or two but 10 is a bit ridiculous.

CrufflerJJ said:

Smoke alarms are CHEAP. Be generous with your installations. I've probably got one in each room of our home, plus the garage.

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Unless the garage is used for living space, generally smoke detectors are not recommended here due to the high possibility of false alarms. Some folks who are concerned about a possible fire danger have installed heat detectors in this location.

Every room should not have a smoke detector . . . laundry rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. due to the increased likelihood of false alarms in these locations.

That said . . . I am a firm believer in "more is often better" when it comes to smoke alarms . . . at least in terms of making sure they are placed in the appropriate locations in the home . . . what I am trying to say in a convoluted way this morning is it is definitely better to have smoke detectors in the bedrooms, hallways outside the bedrooms and have one on every level of the home vs. the guy who just installs one in the hallway outside the bedroom or doesn't install one at all. Studies have shown that the more working smoke alarms in the home that one has . . . generally the better survival rates.

stee6043 said:

In Michigan (and I assume all other states?) you need a smoke alarm in every bedroom PLUS one "just outside" every bedroom and at least one on every floor. They are also required to be interconnected but that's for new construction I do believe.

In all of the bedrooms in my house the smoke alarm is located on the ceiling just inside the door. The fact that they are all this way leads me to believe it's by design.

Smoke detectors are quite prolific in newer homes. I just replaced all of mine last year because they had their 10 year birthday and found I had 10 smoke alarms in a 4 bedroom home. They are cheap when buying one or two but 10 is a bit ridiculous.

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National fire codes . . . from the NFPA . . . often adopted by most local and state agencies . . . require new construction to have electric, inter-connected smoke detectors with battery back up in the locations you cited.

Location placement of the individual alarms generally falls back on the manufacturer's installation instructions . . . most allow either ceiling or wall installation . . . as long as it is not within X inches where the wall meets the ceiling (due to the way smoke fills a home, it often does not fill the corners quite as quickly the experts say) . . . and wall mounted detectors have to be a certain height on the wall. One would hope the contractor installing the detectors knows the correct placement . . . I cannot think of any that I have seen that were professionally installed that were in the wrong location. Oftentimes the exact location however I believe (checking in with one of our Fire Inspectors) is a matter of preference . . . they do not need to be exactly in the center of the room or within a certain number of feet to a door.

10? I guess it's possible . . . depends on the layout of the home, number of floors, etc. . . . but that does seem like quite a few.

brenndatomu said:

I have a smoke alarm in my sons bedroom that needs to be put up on the ceiling, Currently it is setting on the dresser which I know is not optimal. My question is where to put it since there is a ceiling fan right in the center of the room. If I put it up near the center of the room, wouldn't that screw with the alarm sensitivity, if the fan were running and there was smoke in the air? Also, this room is on an outside corner of the house, and there are two doors into the room, one on the East wall (in the North corner) leading into the kitchen, and another door in the center of the North wall, leading down a short hallway that goes to the bathroom, the master bedroom, and the living room. Maybe a good place for the alarm between the two doorways? I know there is a number of firefighters here...what say ye?

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If you've read my previous posts you know you can put the detector pretty much anywhere on the ceiling (staying away from the corners where the walls meet up with the ceiling) or even on the wall (following manufacturer's instructions for height). I personally prefer ceiling mounted detectors for the most part.

Between the doors sounds like it should work . . . my only possible concern might be the distance to the kitchen . . . a typical ionization detector might result in more false alarms if the kitchen is quite close whereas a photo-electric detector may result in fewer false alarms.

firefighterjake said:

Unless the garage is used for living space, generally smoke detectors are not recommended here due to the high possibility of false alarms. Some folks who are concerned about a possible fire danger have installed heat detectors in this location.
=snip=

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Correction - we have a heat detector AND a smoke detector out in the garage. Never had a garage false alarm in umpteen years. I've also got a CO detector in the house, even though we mostly heated with baseboard electric before our woodburning insert. I've had one installed ever since I borrowed my dad's kerosene space heater to thaw out frozen pipes in the crawlspace about 15-20 years ago. It also came in handy when we were running a small gas powered generator in the back yard (with extension cords run in through windows) during a 10 day long power outage in 2008 from Hurricane Ike winds. No alarms, but I felt better that we weren't going to be poisoned by carbon monoxide from the generator. About 10 miles away, an Ohio State Patrol trooper was killed in his garage by generator produced CO. He was running the generator in the garage, with the exhaust vented directly into the garage. Not smart at all.

here in mass if building a new house a separate fire permit has to be pulled. the fireman usually design the system for the house. but generally the smokes are wired together and are placed 2 to 3 feet inside the doors of any room but the kitchen, bath, and garage. top and bottom of every staircase regardless of how many steps there are. any smoke detector within 20 feet of a bathroom or kitchen has to be photoelectric type. there has to be one ionization type somewhere in the house and along with smoke detectors there has to be 1 carbon monoxide detector on every habitable floor and if that is more than 10 feet from a bedroom door then a 2nd one has to be installed. + one in the basement if there is a fuel burning appliance there. this is what i wire here in mass.

I'll add that the wireless detectors have a place as well. My BRKs (First Alert) work well in the garage, although I've had spiders set them off.
I'll also add that it helps to have latching detectors, so that you can see which one went off, as in the case of a false alarm, especially with a lot of detectors.

i use brk also. they have always been the best. i've seen 25 year old detectors still working properly. the brk's that speak have the loudest voice.

I tried their first generation ion/photo combos for hardwire replacements and got a lot of false alarms and they weren't latching either. Went with their separate units (more stuff on ceiling) . I understand their new combos are better, alas.

it is alot of things on the ceiling if separate units are put up but the manual says even on the smoke/carbon units that smokes are warrantied for 5 years and to be replaced at 10 but the carbon monoxide are to be replaced at 7 years.

According to me, one of the best place to mount your smoke alarm is inside the doorway entrance slightly inward the ceiling. I say this because if the smoke enters from outside the room it will enter through the doorway. There is a possibility that the alarm will catch it as soon as possible. If you place the alarm in the middle or corner of the room, as the smoke spills into the room it will have to travel far to reach the detector. Smoke alarm and its placement is very important. I found an online article which had few information on the importance of smoke detector https://www.thinkprotection.com/blo.../why-should-i-get-a-monitored-smoke-detector/ . Just refer this and plan accordingly. Smoke alarm may mean the difference between life and death.

When I was remodeling in CA all remodeling jobs per code required smoke detectors installed in all bedroom near the entry / exit. Used to get them at Costco in a 3 pack with Duracell batteries included for 19.99, Another thing they required was lighted address numbers on the front of the house so fire dept could find them at night.

CrufflerJJ said:

Correction - we have a heat detector AND a smoke detector out in the garage. Never had a garage false alarm in umpteen years. I've also got a CO detector in the house, even though we mostly heated with baseboard electric before our woodburning insert. I've had one installed ever since I borrowed my dad's kerosene space heater to thaw out frozen pipes in the crawlspace about 15-20 years ago. It also came in handy when we were running a small gas powered generator in the back yard (with extension cords run in through windows) during a 10 day long power outage in 2008 from Hurricane Ike winds. No alarms, but I felt better that we weren't going to be poisoned by carbon monoxide from the generator. About 10 miles away, an Ohio State Patrol trooper was killed in his garage by generator produced CO. He was running the generator in the garage, with the exhaust vented directly into the garage. Not smart at all.

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I run chainsaws, weedwackers, sweat fittings, solder, smoke cigars, start the atv/cars/dirtbike, warm engines......I do it all in the garage with the doors wide open of course.

I think I would have a false alarm every time I'm out there. Not that it is a bad thing.

People do some amazingly stupid things. I know a guy that finished his basement and heats it with propane heaters and zero ventilation.