Detectors – Can Mean the Difference between Life and Death

Did you know that if you do not have detectors installed at the appropriate places, or that if they did not work, it could mean the difference between life and death? You need to look for smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors and check whether they work, during interior home checking for the home you consider to buy.

Interior Home Checking: Smoke Detectors and Heat Detectors

Houses have smoke and heat detectors for safety’s sake. Smoke detectors are sensitive to smoke, while heat detectors are sensitive to temperature changes. One definitely cannot use one for the other. The home you look to buy should have a combination of heat detectors and smoke detectors to cover you properly. Ideally, heat detectors should compliment and not replace smoke detectors. These are warning systems for your security as well as the house you will be living in future.

A smoke detector warns you of fire when it senses the products of combustion in the air. Even a small amount of smoke sets it off. Heat detectors, on the other hand warn you of fire when the temperature in the area around the smoke detector reaches a particular level. They do not sense smoke. Some people feel that heat detectors are not good enough as warnings when it comes to escape from a life threatening fire. However, they are certainly useful in kitchens and attics where it is not advisable to position smoke detectors.



Interior Home Checking: Types of Detectors

There are both electric smoke detectors and battery-powered ones. Both have their benefits and drawbacks. While you must maintain the battery backed ones regularly, and test them, they are easy to install and less expensive. The electric smoke detectors are easier to maintain but must be hard-wired to the house. Fire Departments advise you to choose electric smoke detectors with battery backup.

So where can you look for smoke detectors?

• Smoke detectors must be positioned carefully.
• Check whether the smoke detector on the ceiling is at least six inches away from the wall, and never at the point where wall and ceiling meet.
• It must be about 20 feet from stoves, furnaces and water heater.
• It must be away from the kitchen. You do not want false alarms going off often.
• Steam can set off the alarm too, about 10 feet away from bathrooms and other damp areas.
• Attics shorten the life of the detector’s battery.
• If near the air vents, ceiling fans or other breezy areas, the smoke can be blown away preventing the smoke detector from going off.

Make sure that the heat and smoke detectors are placed in all the rooms, while you are doing you interior home checking for the home you are planning to buy. Ensure that they are operational too!