We're having a problem with false alarms from a smoke detector in a kitchen area. Would a heat alarm fix that?
Or, better still, a combined smoke and heat alarm, well away from the oven? With a combined alarm, is it possible to get one that only goes off if there is both smoke and heat?
A heat detector was specified for my kitchen, because smoke detectors will fire off when toasting bread.
The only combined one I've looked at (Aico Ei3024) is marketed as triggered by both and *not* suitable for kitchens.
And I paused over your "well away from the oven". Is it just me that generates a lot of smoke when frying/searing?
Good grief, "triggered by both" is in chocolate teapot territory. I meant triggered by one or the other or the combination of the two - all governed by "intelligent software". Don't ask me how that differs from dumb software. Adam may know as he's been on a course :)
Nope, I generate lots when doing steaks. I do them on an oval cast iron plate thing sticking hot in the griller and that cast iron plate goes on a wooden thing and is eaten off the cast iron plate.
I don't think that would work, as surely every time something got hot and made some aerosol the alarm wood go off. Far better is to find a place where in normal use there is no smoke possible, ie NOT over the toaster or grill, and site it there. That way only genuinely bad smoke will trigger it, Some experimentation required, and if you are likely to cook with a door or window open test that too. If you like have more then one. Make sure they can be easily reached to reset. I have mine half way up the stairs on the wall. However there is on in my bedroom and the sitting room as well the latter is acting up though. Brian
Yes. It’s what’s recommended in the kitchen area now.
Not a good idea. To be useful, a heat alarm needs to be relatively close to the the potential sources of fire. Too close for a smoke alarm.
If you move it away to stop false alarms from the smoke alarm the heat alarm will be too far away to provide an early warning.
Tim
It was mentioned on the course - although they were not yet on the market.
ISTR that if the heat detector was getting close to temperature it lowered the trigger part of the optical sensor so that it would operate at a lower smoke reading. They called it !getting ready" but the device had to detect a sudden rise of heat to start this feature.
Thanks. Sounds sensible: if it's pretty hot then the chances that a bit of smoke mean a fire are greater. And if money were no object I'd probably fit them everywhere (except the kitchen).
An optical smoke detector is less likely to sound than an ionisation smoke detector near a kitchen.
But a kitchen should not have a smoke detector. Is this an apartment or similar with an open kitchen that requires a smoke in the area?
Yes, but really you want rate of rise not just a set temp.
I would say the opposite as opening a hot oven door triggers the rate of rise.
It's a studio flat. We converted my old office, when I started working from home, and it's there.
The tenant has disabled the existing alarm, which is a heat alarm, because it kept going off with false alarms.
I could just leave it at that, but I'd really like to sort something out to protect her. It sounds like the best thing to do is to replace it with a good quality heat alarm. If she throws that out, too, I'll just have to give up!
Any idea what's a good quality heat alarm? AICO is a make that springs to mind. Maybe, this one?
Thanks. I wondered about that. We may need to resite it, too.
Are you absolutely sure it’s a heat alarm? Had heat alarms in my kitchen for years and never had a false alarm.
Tim
That's what I was told. And, yes, that may be wrong.
Just had a look online and the commonly quoted temp for triggering is
57-58C so I find it hard to understand why you’re having such a problem with false alarms unless the tenant is using the oven as a fan heater and leaving the door open for long periods.Tim
I agree with Tim+ - that sounds more like a smoke alarm.
I've idly wondered in the past if landlords can meet their duties for smoke alarms for studio flats by checking that someone else provides an alarm for the floor it's on. Can't see anything against it but OTOH not easy and cheap in practice for a landlord to "ensure" the building's owner keeps them in good order. The few such flats I've seen have all had alarms in them.
I assume no gas.
There's a gas hob.
Cookers are excluded from the requirement for landlords* to provide a CO alarm in every room with a gas appliance.
*I don't know about landlords of HMOsHomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.