Smoke Alarms

[Nick C]

Can anyone recommend a decent but not too expensive smoke alarm?

 

The "FireAngel" one in our hallway has started chirping that its battery is low, at which I'm somewhat unimpressed as it is less than 4 years old, and is one of the sealed-battery 10 year life ones. Looking online this seems to be a common problem with this brand.

 

There seem to be quite a few wireless systems around now that talk to each other - anyone have any experince of these? It'd be good to be able to put one in the shed as well if they have enough range to reach that far (about 20m) to protect the railway stuff.

 

It needs to be battery powered, and either have a replacable battery or actually last 7-10 years, I don't want to buy another 10 year one that only actually lasts 3....

[teaky]

I can't help with a recommendation, I'm afraid.  Mine are all mains alarms.

 

Have you considered contacting FireAngel?  It should still be under warranty.  (5 years on a 10 year smoke alarm!)

 

There is also an answer amongst their FAQs which may apply to you.

"A small percentage of alarms manufactured historically were affected by a premature low battery chirp. The issue does not affect the functionality of the units and any unit affected by the premature low battery will still offer protection and work as it should while a replacement is arranged. Once the issue was identified measures were put in place to rectify the problem and any subsequent alarms should not be affected. FireAngel is committed to providing quality home safety products and our devices come with lengthy warranties for added peace of mind for our customers. If your alarm has emitted a chirping noise, our Technical support team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 0800 141 25 61 or via email at technicalsupport@fireangeltech.com"

 

https://www.fireangel.co.uk/home/faq/

 

[meil]

If it's the FP2620W2-R they have a 5 yr warranty.

[ejstubbs]

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

There seem to be quite a few wireless systems around now that talk to each other

 

Linked systems are compulsory in Scotland now, though not many people seem to know about it.

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/

 

CORRECTION: The date on which the legislation comes in to force has been postponed by 12 months - that's changed since I first found out about it in October last year.  Good job I re-read that web page rather than just posting the link, but it seems to have taken them a fair while to realise that the pandemic was going to be a major obstacle to the original date being met.  And most people still don't know about it - and of those who do know about I suspect a high proportion care very little.  It's not as if they're going to come round and check every property in Scotland come next February...

[JeremyC]

1 hour ago, ejstubbs said:

 

Linked systems are compulsory in Scotland now, though not many people seem to know about it.

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/

 

CORRECTION: The date on which the legislation comes in to force has been postponed by 12 months - that's changed since I first found out about it in October last year.  Good job I re-read that web page rather than just posting the link, but it seems to have taken them a fair while to realise that the pandemic was going to be a major obstacle to the original date being met.  And most people still don't know about it - and of those who do know about I suspect a high proportion care very little.  It's not as if they're going to come round and check every property in Scotland come next February...

There were a considerable number of stories about this in the Scottish press last year and most people I've mentioned it to said they received leaflets through the door about it, so people should be aware of it.

I think even the 2022 deadline maybe too soon as I can see equipment and tradesmen availability being a problem given the number of premises involved (and that's leaving out Covid).

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by JeremyC

[Nick C]

4 hours ago, teaky said:

I can't help with a recommendation, I'm afraid.  Mine are all mains alarms.

 

Have you considered contacting FireAngel?  It should still be under warranty.  (5 years on a 10 year smoke alarm!)

 

There is also an answer amongst their FAQs which may apply to you.

"A small percentage of alarms manufactured historically were affected by a premature low battery chirp. The issue does not affect the functionality of the units and any unit affected by the premature low battery will still offer protection and work as it should while a replacement is arranged. Once the issue was identified measures were put in place to rectify the problem and any subsequent alarms should not be affected. FireAngel is committed to providing quality home safety products and our devices come with lengthy warranties for added peace of mind for our customers. If your alarm has emitted a chirping noise, our Technical support team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 0800 141 25 61 or via email at technicalsupport@fireangeltech.com"

 

https://www.fireangel.co.uk/home/faq/

 

Many thanks for that - I phoned them and they're sending a new one. Didn't even need proof of purchase, just the batch number off the back of the alarm.

 

I still want something for the shed that'll sound in the house, but at least the immediate problem is solved. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

10 hours ago, Nick C said:

I still want something for the shed that'll sound in the house

 

A dog?

 

Mike.

[Nick C]

15 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

 

Linked systems are compulsory in Scotland now, though not many people seem to know about it.

 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/

 

CORRECTION: The date on which the legislation comes in to force has been postponed by 12 months - that's changed since I first found out about it in October last year.  Good job I re-read that web page rather than just posting the link, but it seems to have taken them a fair while to realise that the pandemic was going to be a major obstacle to the original date being met.  And most people still don't know about it - and of those who do know about I suspect a high proportion care very little.  It's not as if they're going to come round and check every property in Scotland come next February...

 

Not being in Scotland, I hadn't heard of this until yesterday. There's one part that really doesn't make sense though - in the reasoning, it quite sensibly says that:

 

Quote

Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London, a Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety was established to review Scotland’s building and fire safety regulatory frameworks. 

 

and yet later in the document it says:

 

Quote

In a shared property such as a tenement or block of flats there is no requirement for different properties to be linked to each other. There is no requirement for alarms to be fitted in communal areas such as entry halls and stairways.

 

Surely one of the things that Grenfell showed was the importance of being able to evacuate the whole building in the event of a fire in any one unit, as they can so easily spread to another? So why on earth would you not mandate alarms in communal areas?

[Reorte]

37 minutes ago, Nick C said:

 

Not being in Scotland, I hadn't heard of this until yesterday. There's one part that really doesn't make sense though - in the reasoning, it quite sensibly says that:

 

 

and yet later in the document it says:

 

 

Surely one of the things that Grenfell showed was the importance of being able to evacuate the whole building in the event of a fire in any one unit, as they can so easily spread to another? So why on earth would you not mandate alarms in communal areas?

Rather makes it sound like mandating extra in places where it won't really make much difference but not bothering with those places where it might.

[sulzer27jd]

53 minutes ago, Nick C said:

Surely one of the things that Grenfell showed was the importance of being able to evacuate the whole building in the event of a fire in any one unit, as they can so easily spread to another? So why on earth would you not mandate alarms in communal areas?

 Grenfell was and hopefully will remain unique. The fire spread was outside of the structure. In a multi storey block the safest place remains within your compartment unless directed otherwise by the fire & rescue service. 

[ejstubbs]

The Grenfell tower, as with other tower blocks of its ilk, was originally designed to minimise the risk of fire spreading between separate apartments within the building.  That design was fatally compromised when non-fire-resistant foam-cored exterior cladding was used in its refurbishment.  That meant that, as Sulzer27jd said, a fire in one apartment ignited the cladding on the outside of the building, which then allowed the fire to spread to other parts of the building.  The significantly increased fire risk was covered up/ignored/poorly communicated so that, when a fire did break out, the rescue services at first tried to stick to the "shelter in place" plan, until it was finally - perhaps too late - realised that the basis of that plan had been critically undermined.

[simontaylor484]

Thats why burn times are specified in construction. A normal interior door will withstand around 20 minutes. 

Our house is a modern 3 storey townhouse we have linked smoke alarms on all floors doors leading to the stairway are all self closing fire doors with an intumescent seal embedded that swells in heat to seal the gap. 

A Bison slab type floor has burn time of an hour plus.

 

Structural steel is painted with fire protection paint of various types