Reason for garage smoke alarm

[F16 1UB]

Okay fire fighters please explain why there's no smoke alarm in the garage. Yes I'm going to install one.

[Linwood]

Great idea,
I am too going to add one,
but I will link it to another one in the main house so that if it activates it will also be heard inside - if one activates both sound off,

My electrician did this when we added an attached garage to our NC home -
I have fought dozens of garage fires and this one slipped by,
OOPS!
Peace,
Linwood

[faithfulfrank]

The reason there is no smoke alarm in the garage is (At least up north here in NY), there is a chance that exause from the car could set it off.

When I built my house I DID put an alarm in the garage, but it is NOT a smoke alarm. It is a heat sensor alarm. Heat rises, and it is set to trip when any the temp gets higher then it normally would, like due to a fire. It is directly hard wired to the rest of my regular smoke alarms.

BTW, I'm been a Professional firefighter for 19 years......Merry Christmas!

Frank

[F16 1UB]

Thanks guys - And this is exactly why I mentioned fire fighters. Who better would know.

[Skip]

Just putting an alarm in the garage is of little use. The "detector" part needs to be in the garage and the "alarm" part (noise maker) needs to be in your house, so it will wake you up!

Skip

[JeanneBeannie]

I agree 100% that something needs to be put in the garage! I will be curious to see more answers from fire fighters, I believe we have quite a few.
I also had a heat sensor in the garage in NY. Glad you brought this up F-16, I come from generations of fire fighters so I am very fire conscious. In fact after seeing this question I noticed that their is only one near the bedroom, I sure would feel alot better with one near the kitchen as well. Another thing for my list lol!
Jeanne

[faithfulfrank]

Just putting an alarm in the garage is of little use. The "detector" part needs to be in the garage and the "alarm" part (noise maker) needs to be in your house, so it will wake you up!

Skip

Agreed. That is why you hook it up to the rest of them in your home....Hard wired alarms are hooked up in series, so that when one goes off, they all go off. It is not difficult to run some 14-3 wire from an existing hard wired smoke alarm and pop in a box and another alarm.

Code states that you need one in every bedroom, as well as one outside the bedrooms in the common hallway. There should also be one on every floor. As to the kitchen...be careful. Some alarms will be easily set off from cooking or even steam from showers, etc. Some cooks have many false alarms......then they disable the alarm. I've been to many house fires with NON-working alarms, disabled by the owners.....

Any home that has gas appliances (or anything that burns) should also have a CO (carbon monoxide) detector.

Since the subject is safety, I have also installed emergency 911 lightswitches on my homes. This switch is easily installed, and has a middle setting that makes your outside light blink. If you have an emergency, like needing police, EMS, or fire, when you call 911 and give them your address, you can also tell them to look for the blinking light.

Sometimes finding a house number at night is difficult. Seeing a blinking light does indeed help. These switches cost under $15.00 and take less then 5 minutes to install.

I would think the fire dept down there have good public speakers that would hold regular Q & A safety talks for you. We do up here.....heck, we even will go to homes and do a safety walk through for folks who request it. We talk about clutter, (a BIG problem with seniors), dangerous throw rugs, lack of grab bars, cooking with big sleeved robes, folks falling asleep cooking, space heaters, detectors, symptoms of heart attacks, strokes, CPR, etc,etc,etc.....

Frank

[Ooper]

Just a note... make sure it is the correct type of detector. I have occasionally set off the alarm in my laundry room off the garage if I left the door open after I have started my lawn mower or the leaf blower in the garage.

[faithfulfrank]

Just a note... make sure it is the correct type of detector. I have occasionally set off the alarm in my laundry room off the garage if I left the door open after I have started my lawn mower or the leaf blower in the garage.

That's right. That's why I recommended and hard wired installed in my garage a Heat detector....not a smoke detector. They look a bit different, and cost a bit more.

Frank