Smoke alarms being fitted in our living room and kitchen

mdonaldson

Tomorrow we are getting smoke alarms fitted in our living room and kitchen. We have not had any alarms in these rooms before. There are bedrooms above our living room and kitchen. Will the people fitting them need access to the bedrooms above to fit them or is it all done through the ceiling from below?

ka7e

Ours were wired down through the ceiling, so access was needed through the bedroom floorboards, but electricians use flexible wire guides so may not need access directly above the alarm. But I wouldn't advise having a smoke alarm actually in the kitchen. They are so sensitive, a slightly crispy bit of toast will activate it. It is usual to put one on the ceiling just outside the kitchen and another over the stairs (if applicable). The exceptions might be a system hard-wired to alert a 3rd party if the accommodation is used by a vulnerable person.

Mojisola

We've got a heat alarm in the kitchen rather than a smoke alarm - for the reasons ka7e mentions.

Rodders53

Scotland, perhaps with that user name? 
Likely a heat sensor in Kitchen and Optical smoke in Lounge.  
Presumably the Hall and Landing are already fitted with (interlinked) alarms?  Only the installers can answer the question.  But wireless interlinking is possible and it may be permissible to use mains from a lighting circuit under the Scottish regulations?  {IIRC even long life battery wireless interconnect alarms will meet the new requirements to minimise disruption / make diy fit possible.}

Ionisation alrams are sensitive to toast, but optical much less so.  I replaced an inonisation with optical outside a bungalow kitchen to cure the false alarms we had.  Ditto in my touring caravan.  Ionisation alarms are fast disappearing anyway.

Current house the Kitchen Diner with vaulted ceiling has one heat near the cooking facilities and an optical over the dining table (and outside the utility room).  No false alarms to date.

Rosa_Damascena

Now this may be a naive comment...but why fit them to the mains when battery operated ones are easily installed, and flexible in their re/location? Yes they are a PITA when the battery runs low, but if you have spares in it's not a problem.

ka7e

Rosa_Damascena said:

Now this may be a naive comment...but why fit them to the mains when battery operated ones are easily installed, and flexible in their re/location? Yes they are a PITA when the battery runs low, but if you have spares in it's not a problem.

Scotland is introducing a new law making hard-wired alarms compulsory in ALL residential premises.

"Under the new regulations, by 1st February 2021 every home in Scotland must meet the 'Tolerable Standard' by having smoke alarms in every circulation space, smoke alarms in the rooms most frequently used, a heat alarm in the kitchen and a Carbon Monoxide alarm where there is a fuel burning appliance or flue."

George_Michael

ka7e said:

Scotland is introducing a new law making hard-wired alarms compulsory in ALL residential premises.

Not strictly correct.
The requirement is to have interlinked alarms but these do not have to be hard wired. You can still use battery powered devices that have wireless interconnection.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Fire_and_Smoke/Smoke_Alarms_Radiolink/index.html

Rosa_Damascena

George_Michael said:

ka7e said:

Scotland is introducing a new law making hard-wired alarms compulsory in ALL residential premises.

Not strictly correct.
The requirement is to have interlinked alarms but these do not have to be hard wired. You can still use battery powered devices that have wireless interconnection.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Fire_and_Smoke/Smoke_Alarms_Radiolink/index.html

I do get that safety would have been the driver for the change, but it smacks of jobs for the boys. I can't see it coming to England any time soon.

chrisw

Rosa_Damascena said:

Now this may be a naive comment...but why fit them to the mains when battery operated ones are easily installed, and flexible in their re/location? Yes they are a PITA when the battery runs low, but if you have spares in it's not a problem.

Why do the batteries always run out at 3am? 

[Deleted User]

chrisw said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Now this may be a naive comment...but why fit them to the mains when battery operated ones are easily installed, and flexible in their re/location? Yes they are a PITA when the battery runs low, but if you have spares in it's not a problem.

Why do the batteries always run out at 3am? 

Hi,

because of drop in temperature at night, read this.

Homer_home

Rosa_Damascena said:

Now this may be a naive comment...but why fit them to the mains when battery operated ones are easily installed, and flexible in their re/location? Yes they are a PITA when the battery runs low, but if you have spares in it's not a problem.

For the very reason you mention , batteries run down - starts beeping - battery gets removed cause it's 3am and you are trying to sleep , people say oh I'll get some new batteries when I next go shopping but because the alarm is no longer beeping people forget to change the battery and then there is a fire

And of course there is the people who buy fresh batteries before they run out , forget where they have put them because it could be years before you need to change them and of course forget to buy some more on the next shopping run and then there is a fire

Battery powered smoke alarms should be seen as a back up only to a mains powered system 

Smoke/carbon monoxide alarms should only be fixed in certain places in rooms and certainly shouldn't be relocated as could put them in a place where they may not pick up a fire until it's too late