Safety system proven in apartments and houses, the smoke detector prevents domestic fires, provided you are installed in the right place. Poorly placed, it becomes not only useless, but can also give a false feeling of security.
Designed to give the alert in the event of a fire starting by detecting the presence of smoke in the air, very often more deadly than the flames themselves, this small device is compulsory in each French accommodation since 2015. But it is still necessary that the latter is able to detect the danger. What many households ignore is that a particular place makes the alarm ineffective … even deceptive.
If your detector is triggered regularly for no reason, it is not that it is defective, but probably it is in the wrong place. And in this case, untimely alarms, repeatedly, end up annoying … until some decide to temporarily deactivate it, or worse, definitively. Result: you think you are protected while this is no longer the case.
The place in question is one of the busiest in the house, and one of the most at risk too. However, this is where the installation of a detector is strongly discouraged. For what ? Because current fumes – steam, cooking smoke, heat – regularly trigger the alarm without there being any real danger.
This place is cooking. The risk of false alert is so high that it is best to avoid installing a smoke detector. The device, disturbed, may start for a simmered dish or a slightly hot pan. By dint of seeing him ring for nothing, we end up no longer reacting or removing the batteries, gross error. Good practice? Place the detector in the corridor or the living room, remotely of the cooking smoke, while remaining close to the rooms. A small gesture that can change everything.
Because it is always better to prevent than panic for nothing, be sure to install your smoke detector in the recommended places so that it fulfills its role and really protects you. Do not forget to change the batteries either, every year on average, and do not hesitate to test the alarm once a month by pressing the button provided for this purpose. In the kitchen, rather bet on a carbon monoxide detector or simply stay vigilant.
