Hi,
I just wondered whether anyone had a heat alarm anywhere other than their kitchen?
I see they are recommended for garages. If you had an integral garage, I suppose that would be a good idea.
Has anyone fitted one to their (unconverted) loft or does the temperature fluctuate too much to site one there?
TIA
When my brother had his extension build I put heat detectors in his garage and his kitchen. There was no requirement to do so but as I was laying the cables for smokes in the landing and hall way it was only a minor extra cost with very little extra labour.
Most heat detectors are fixed temperature detectors (usually set to activate at 58degC). Provided your loft temperature stays below 58deg then the alarm will not sound.
Adam
British summers being what they are, I doubt my loft ever gets above
20C ;)
I think there is a requirement for them in the kitchen now because smoke detectors may give false alarms when cooking.
I understand that heat alarms are used in the loft because of dust and in garages because car exhausts could cause false alarms with smoke detectors but considering most people keep their cars on the drive and their tools in the garage, is there an argument for using a smoke detector in the garage instead?
TIA
ummm I may be missing something but.....wouldn't it be a bit late by the time the loft mounted heat alarm went off? or are you expecting a fire somehow starting up there would work its way down?
Cheers JimK
I have a smoke detector in the garage and get many false alarms caused by doing workshop type things. I'm always there, though (being the cause of the false alarm....) so they are merely irritating.
I think the downlighters people tend to like are a prime candidate for setting stuff on fire in the loft, so sounds like a good idea to me!
Toby...
This kind of thing is exacerbated by the interlinking that the most recent building regs insist on.
Loft wiring can be subject to vermin damage (fire), plus boilers may be located in the loft.
Swap it for a heat detector!
Adam
BBQ rat.
spose it could be - one would have to hope that the vermin didn't nibble the wires to the alarm.... ;>) .... if RCDs in main box then probly not a "fire risk"?
assuming you mean gas - wouldn't the (first) bang wake you up (or kill you) anyway?
Cheers JimK
The intumescent hoods are not there to stop the downlighters catching fire. They are there to stop the spead of fire between floors.
Adam
yeah - I thought Toby was suggesting hot downlighters in "ceiling of room below loft" may start a fire in loft - hence a possible need for heat detector?
JimK
Well the wiring for the upstairs lights will run through a loft and there may be a tv amplifier/distribution box. True the cable should never get warm running a couple of lights but I just thought I'd add an alarm for completeness ;)
Mine has got up to 45.5C during the last year...
Jul 1 16:24:46 Temperature - Loft 45.5
It has a ventilation fan which kicks in at 25C, so it would have been even hotter without that.
Looking back at the News, it seems we were in a heatwave that day.
Early warning of fire in an ajoining neighbour's property.
Some years ago a friend of mine lived in a terraced house and the next door neighbour's house was subjected to a very serious arson attack. My friend had no smoke alarms and the fire brigade had to rescue him from his bedroom suffering from smoke inhalation. I have no idea if a heat alarm in the loft would have helped but a smoke alarm on his landing certainly have.
Adam
I remember one summer working in the loft and trying to work first thing in the morning and late in the evening to avoid the heat. I was trying to put boarding down for storage IIRC. I think it was 2006 when we had the hot summer but the summers since have been disappointing. If these alarms trigger at 58C, is there a danger of false alarms in the summer? TIA
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