Smoke Alarm Mounting Tips

Where to put them

• To ensure maximum protection from fires, smoke alarms should be placed in every room of the house, including the basement, and outside every bedroom. Photoelectric smoke alarms, which haven sensors designed to detect smoldering fires, are best used in areas where people sleep or where slow-building electrical fires might occur. Ionization smoke alarms, which have sensors designed to detect flashing or flaming fires, are best for the kitchen or the garage. Some alarms have both kinds of sensors and can be used in any location.

  Smoke alarms should be installed as high up on a wall as possible or on the ceiling, because most smoke and related gases are lighter than air and accumulate near the ceiling.

How to mount them

• To mount a smoke alarm, you need to first determine if it runs on batteries or if it is hard wired. If it's battery operated, be sure to put a fully charged battery in it before mounting. If it's hard wired, you should have a licensed professional electrician install it for you.

  For the battery-operated smoke alarm, start your installation by marking a spot on the wall or ceiling to indicate where you want to place it. Next, install the smoke alarm by following the instructions that came with it. For most smoke alarms, this will mean attaching a back bracket to the wall using a supplied screw. Twist the screw in tightly until it is snug. Finish by placing the main body of the smoke alarm over the bracket and snapping it into place.

  A hard-wired smoke alarm draws its power from the home electrical system. They generally also have rechargeable batteries in them in case the power goes out. A professional should install hard-wired alarms because most cannot be plugged into an outlet. They need to be connected to the wiring inside the wall, which means poking holes in the wall, finding the wires, and then connecting them in ways that will not cause them to become fire hazards.

Connecting them together

• Smoke alarms should be connected together so that if one detects smoke, all of the alarms in the house will sound. This can be done in two ways. The first is through the electrical wiring already in the house and should only be done by a licensed electrician.

  The second way is to connect them wirelessly, which can be done using the same kind of wireless router that is used to connect computers to the Internet. Each smoke alarm comes with its own IP address and software for configuration. In most cases, installation is as simple as running a disc on a computer in the house.