How to Avoid Setting Off Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms are designed to let off an ear-piercing beeping sound when the alarm senses smoke or steam. While smoke alarms often alert people to fires inside the house, the alarm may also go off when you're cooking food or when you light a fire outside. While you can disable the alarm when you know there is a chance of smoke entering your house, doing so isn't advisable, because you may forget to turn it back on. You can often avoid setting the alarm off with the use of an oven fan and ensuring your windows are closed.

Instructions

- 1
  Check the bottom of your pots and pans and the top of your stove burners for stuck-on food residue. While you may cook something that emits little to no smoke or steam, such as soup, left-over residue can burn and send smoke traveling throughout your house.
- 2
  Turn on the oven fan when you turn on the oven. An oven fan is designed to suck up any smoke or steam before it gets the chance to escape into your house and set off the smoke alarms.
- 3
  Shut the windows if you or someone else is burning something near your house. Open windows can let in smoke from burn piles or ongoing fires, and if the wind is blowing towards your house, your room may fill up with smoke in a hurry.
- 4
  Move the alarm. Even if your oven fan is on, a small amount of smoke and steam may still escape and cause nearby alarms to go off. Moving the alarm a few feet away is the best option.

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