"quiet" smoke alarm

PenguinOfDeath

Definitely a wind-up.

The operative word here is ALARM!!

Tygermoth

To the guy who asked why it would go off in the night....

We have a lovely Yankee Candle in the stair well. Blew it out went to bed. Smoke alarm goes of at 3 in the morning (OH didn't even move )

I went from dead sleep to the top of the landing in .3 of a second.

Transpires the candle had reignited, burned to the end of the jar the smoke filled the jar combusted causing the jar to explode and spray glass and embers all over the hallway. The embers had caught the carpet and were making a good effort to get going.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rff45saqxr0ate8/2013-01-06%2001.13.59.jpg

Luckily we have wood burning stoves so are shi* hot on making sure we have a loud fire alarm and extinguishers in prime locations in the house.

20 second ramp up to an alarm and the hall would have been an inferno.

I learned my lesson regarding foot wear now keep some by the bed. charging about to get the flames out and adrenaline high... didn't realise i had glass in my foot until later.


PS Yankee candles response was... well you should have blown it out properly. i did point out the design flaw if the jar explodes and they just shrugged. I should have taken it further but had a lot on my plate at the time.

muckybutt

A "gentle" smoke alarm would NEVER get British Standards approval and would NEVER conform to current regulations.

Like what has been said before, alarms are meant to be loud and alarming in all sense of the word and being, every second does count regardless of what you may think.

Smoke or the fumes can and have killed many people way before there is a raging inferno.