Where are smoke alarms actually installed?

Created: 01/11/2022, 4:50 PM

Smoke alarms must not hang too close to the transition to the room wall.

© Christin Klose / dpa-tmn

Smoke alarms must not just be hung anywhere on the ceiling.

So that they can register when there is a fire, they also need enough space.

Berlin - Smoke alarms with their piercing warning tone are even supposed to bring people out of deep sleep in an emergency - a fire in a house or apartment can save life.

But the devices can only really save if they hang in the right places in the room.

Pros give tips:

Locations in the house:

Smoke alarms are required by law in

, i.e. the hallway that leads to the stairwell or the front door.

In Berlin and Brandenburg, all potential common rooms must also be equipped with warning devices - such as the living room.

This applies to new and old buildings, with the exception of the existing buildings in Saxony.

A common room:

Smoke alarms must be "attached to the ceiling as centrally as possible, with a clear distance from walls and corners," says Reiner Metzger from Stiftung Warentest.

This distance should be at least half a meter, better still a meter.

If the distance to wall or ceiling elements, but also to lamps, is shorter, the air around the device cannot circulate well - and therefore the smoke cannot reach the sensors as early as possible.

Please keep a distance: so that the air around the smoke detector can circulate well, it should hang in the middle of the room.

Otherwise the smoke will not reach the sensors as early as possible.

© Andrea Warnecke / dpa-tmn

The circulation is also the reason why, according to the Fire Smoke Prevention Forum, the smoke detector

or where there is strong draft.

Because the smoke would initially only move there instead of triggering the alarm directly.

The furnishings can also become a problem: “We keep seeing that smoke detectors are initially attached correctly, but then at some point they are delivered with cupboards or a shelf,” says Reiner Metzger.

"The devices must remain free."

Very large rooms or rooms with room dividers:

"A smoke detector mounted centrally on the ceiling safely covers a room of up to 60 square meters," says Norbert Schaaf from the Fire Smoke Prevention Forum.

Larger rooms, but also rooms that are divided by floor-to-ceiling shelves or cupboards, therefore need additional smoke detectors.

Very high rooms and the top floor:

Very high rooms are problematic.

The devices are designed for a ceiling height of up to six meters.

In some lofts or halls, that's not enough, says Schaaf.

The reason for this is a physical phenomenon: "In every room, warm air rises under the ceiling and forms an invisible cushion of warmth there," explains the fire protection expert.

In higher rooms, this air cushion is so thick that the smoke cannot penetrate it and reach the warning devices mounted above it.

That is why smoke alarms with rods on the ceiling have to be guided deeper into the room.

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The same phenomenon occurs in rooms with an open gable under roofs.

Here, too, the smoke detector should therefore not be attached too high.

The Fire Smoke Prevention Forum recommends a

.

And it depends on the sloping roof: on a slight slope, the smoke detector can be attached directly to the sloping roof, according to the experts.

If the incline is more than 20 degrees, the device should be hung in a horizontal position with aids.

Maintaining the Smoke Alarm: The batteries should be checked every six months.

© Christin Klose / dpa-tmn

An exception are rooms with sloping ceilings and a horizontal middle section of at least one meter: this is exactly where the smoke detector belongs.

Kitchen and Bathroom:

Smoke detectors are unsuitable for bathrooms because the water vapor would trigger a number of false alarms here.

"The fire risk is also low here," says Metzger.

The situation is different in the kitchen, where the stove is a potential hazard.

Here, too, smoke detectors reach their limits, says product expert Metzger: “They would trigger if you just lift the lid from the saucepan or open the hot oven.” Therefore, heat detectors or a stove alarm are better lifesavers in the kitchen.

Do you have five minutes left today?

Because that's how much it takes to test and clean the smoke detector.

1. Press briefly

The built-in test button should be triggered about every six months to check the battery performance.

If the detector does not emit a beep after a few seconds, the function is disrupted, according to the Fire Smoke Prevention Forum.

The batteries or the entire device must then be replaced.

There are devices with removable batteries and models with a lithium battery that cannot be changed.

In relation to the entire assumed service life, the costs for both variants are roughly the same.

2. Cleaning up:

Dirty devices are wiped off with a damp cloth without detergent.

The smoke detector must never be opened.

Pollution, but also strong cigarette or candle smoke and foreign objects such as insects or dust that have penetrated the smoke chamber can trigger a false alarm.

Therefore, the openings through which the smoke is supposed to enter should be checked from time to time.

If they are damaged or heavily soiled, the smoke detector must be replaced.

Press the test button on the smoke detector every six months