Smoke alarms save lives. 65% of home fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms at all or no smoke alarms that work. When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out.  By learning how to effectively use the smoke alarm's early warning to get out safely, you'll reduce your risk of dying in a home fire.

Location

1. Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound
2. Smoke rises; install smoke alarms following manufacturer’s instructions high on a wall or on a ceiling. Wall-mounted alarms should be installed four to 12 inches away from the ceiling. Save manufacturer’s instructions for testing and maintenance.
3. An ionization alarm with a hush button or photoelectric alarm should be used if the alarm is within 20 feet of a cooking appliance.
4. Don't install smoke alarms near windows, doors, or ducts where drafts might interfere with their operation.

Maintenance

1. Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use ten year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are ten years old or sooner if they do not respond properly when tested.
2. If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with an alarm that has a “hush” button. A “hush” button will reduce the alarm’s sensitivity for a short period of time.
3. Never paint smoke alarms.  Paint, stickers, or other decorations could keep the alarms from working.
4. Regularly vacuuming or dusting your smoke alarms, following the manufacturer's instructions, can keep them working properly.

Safety Tips

1. An ionization smoke alarm is generally more responsive to flaming fires and a photoelectric smoke alarm is generally more responsive to smoldering fires. For the best protection, both types of alarms or a combination alarm (photoelectric and ionization) should be installed in homes.
2. Hard-wired smoke alarms operate on your household electrical current.  They can be interconnected so that every alarm sounds regardless of the fire's location.  This is an advantage in early warning, because it gives occupants extra time to escape if they are in one part of the home and a fire breaks out in another part.  Alarms that are hard-wired should have battery backups in case of a power outage, and should be installed by a qualified electrician.
3. Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.
4. Be sure the smoke alarm has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
5. Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.
6. Smoke alarms that include a recordable voice announcement, in addition to the usual alarm sound, may be helpful in waking children through the use of a familiar voice.
7. Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These alarms use strobe lights. Vibration equipment can be added to these alarms.
8. Smoke alarms are an important part of a home fire escape plan.
9. Never "borrow" a battery from a smoke alarm.  Smoke alarms can't warn you of fire if their batteries are missing or have been disconnected.
10. Don't disable smoke alarms even temporarily.  If your smoke alarm is sounding "nuisance alarms," try relocating it farther from kitchens or bathrooms, where cooking fumes and steam can cause the alarm to sound.
11. A dead or missing battery is the primary cause of smoke detector failure.