Smoke Alarm placement

jonny2510

Hi All,

moved into our first house a few weeks ago, and as one of my "DIY improvement" jobs I've installed 2 smoke alarms.

One at the bottom of the stairs (also leading into the living room*, without a door), and the other on the landing at the top of the stairs (outside the two bedrooms).

When I bought the alarms, I got 1 optical alarm and 1 ionisation alarm. The recomendations on the fire brigades website seem to contradict the recomendations that come with the alarms.

Can anyone tell me which way round would make them, the most effective, and why?

* The kitchen also leads into the living room, although there are doors in between.

silvercar

Position the optical alarm so it would help light the exit route in the event of smoke.

jonny2510

silvercar wrote:

Position the optical alarm so it would help light the exit route in the event of smoke.

Sorry, the optical/ionisation was a reference to the type of sensor the alarms have.

Neither have a light.

kittiwoz

I don't know the answer but the fire service in many areas will come out to do a free assesment on your home. They would be able to advise you best on this and may even fit some extra smoke alarms for free. They will give you a plan for what to do in the event of a fire which is tailored to your situation and also some advice on preventing fires from starting and spreading. In Greater Manchester they are promoting this as something anyone in a new home should do. I think it is a good idea, we had them visit our house and found it useful.