It is essential for the safety of yourself and your family to ensure that your smoke alarms are compliant with regulations. This gives your family early enough warning to either extinguish a small fire or to evacuate safely from an open fire in your home that has grown too much to be managed.
While it may feel like a situation that would never happen to you, it is better to be safe than sorry – and after making sure that your smoke alarms are up to date and compliant with regulations, you will be able to have the peace of mind that your family is safe from fires in your home.
Every second counts after a fire has erupted, as it grows exponentially in size and destroys everything in its path. This is why we are so serious about protecting and educating families in Australia on keeping their smoke detectors and smoke alarms up to date and in compliance with regulations.
3 Things to Check on Your Smoke Alarm Today
Check for solid green light: The solid green light on your smoke alarm reveals that you have a 240V hard-wired smoke alarm. If you do, this is good because WA regulations today require that all homes being rented or sold must have these alarms installed.
Ensure the smoke alarm isn’t within 300mm of a ceiling or wall: If the smoke detector is within 300mm of a ceiling or wall, it might not operate in the way it should. Because smoke rises and curls around corners, this leaves a pocket of air that the smoke won’t reach. If your smoke alarm is in this zone, smoke might not reach it and set it off in time to give you and your family adequate warning to reach a safe area.
Make sure smoke alarms are in required locations: Smoke alarms are required to be installed outside of every bedroom area. This means if you have a common living space such as a living room or kitchen separating two-bedroom areas, you will be required to have 2 smoke alarms installed in your home. You will also need a smoke alarm on every floor of any multi-story building regardless of where the bedroom areas are.
Maintaining Your Smoke Alarms
Here are some additional tips to help you maintain your smoke alarm:
Remove the head from the base and confirm that it is less than 10 years old
Replace the battery annually as it becomes flat
Re-instate the head of the smoke alarm back onto the base
Use a vacuum to suck the dust from the sensor chamber
Push the test button to see how the sounder works
Use artificial smoke and test the sensor’s operation
Clean the alarm using a damp rag
After you have followed the above steps, you can rest assured that your family is protected from fire in your home!
The Verdict
Smoke alarms are something that should be taken very seriously, and if you think there might be a problem with yours or you need additional smoke alarms updated or installed, get in touch with a certified electrician today!
