Fire/smoke detectors for kitchen

[Richard Savage]

I've Googled the archives without finding much of an answer so apologies for asking the question again:

My dishwasher and washing machine are located in my kitchen. I run them overnight and have a simple battery powered smoke detector.

I want to replace said smoke detector with one that I can link to a couple of others around the house (especially in my attic).

So, do I buy any old linkable smoke detector or is there a type, perhaps optical, that is more suited to kitchen use?

I gather from the archives that whitegoods, if properly maintained, might be more likely to cause their surroundings to ignite after smouldering for some time. But kitchens, especially mine, are prone to filling with acrid smoke in normal use! BTW I have, or will soon, a gas hob in the kitchen.

TIA Richard

[Lurch]

On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 19:39:08 +0000, in uk.d-i-y Richard Savage strung together this:

You'll be wanting a heat detector in the kitchen then. And ionisation\optical detectors in the rest of the house, preferably in communal areas on each level. I usually use the EI 150 series and have found them good quality. They are mains operated with lithium battery backup and are interlinkable.

[Richard Savage]

I've Googled the archives without finding much of an answer so apologies for asking the question again:

My dishwasher and washing machine are located in my kitchen. I run them overnight and have a simple battery powered smoke detector.

I want to replace said smoke detector with one that I can link to a couple of others around the house (especially in my attic).

So, do I buy any old linkable smoke detector or is there a type, perhaps optical, that is more suited to kitchen use?

I gather from the archives that whitegoods, if properly maintained, might be more likely to cause their surroundings to ignite after smouldering for some time. But kitchens, especially mine, are prone to filling with acrid smoke in normal use! BTW I have, or will soon, a gas hob in the kitchen.

TIA Richard

[troubleinstore]

The advice given on my smoke detectors was never to locate one in a kitchen. Mum's next door neighbour had one just the other side of the kitchen door and everytime the made toast, the thing used to go off. If you are having a gas hob, then I would suggest a Carbon Monoxide alarm.

[Owain]

"Richard Savage" wrote | My dishwasher and washing machine are located in my kitchen. I | run them overnight and have a simple battery powered smoke detector. | I want to replace said smoke detector with one that I can link to a | couple of others around the house (especially in my attic). | So, do I buy any old linkable smoke detector or is there a type, | perhaps optical, that is more suited to kitchen use?

Heat detector, and you want one from the same range as your existing detectors, as different manufacturers' ranges are not necessarily compatible.

Owain

[Christian McArdle]

You need heat detectors in a kitchen. Smoke detectors should be avoided. Then use a mixture of optical/ionisation types in the rest of the house. You should ensure that every hallway has one, but try not to put any near the kitchen. Additional ones in bedrooms have the advantage that the siren will be more likely to wake you, so consider one in the master bedroom so you wake quickly enough to rescue the children.

You can't mix and match makes, so ensure your manufacturer choice has ionisation, optical and heat sensing types available.

If you're really worried about the appliances, choose a make that do an auxillary relay. This can control a contactor that will cut the power to the kitchen ring (or indeed all power circuits). If you do this, ensure that it won't affect the lighting. Most people are killed in house fires because they can't find the exit before the smoke gets them.

Christian.

[Rick Dipper]

I have no idea if this is correct, but I use a Carbon Monoxide detector in my kitchen, and rooms with fireplaces. It works on how much partly burnt gas is in the room, not on smoke. It takes quite a bit of smoke to set if off, but appears to go off before a full blown fire. I still have normal smoke detectors the other side of the 1/2 hour fire door that seals the room.

I have tested how much smoke set it off, which is LOTS more than a smoke detector, but not so much you can't breathe/see. I reckon when these things go off a night the whole family is stood in the garden in less than a minuite (we pratice with the kids). Of cource these rooms are not in the escape route.

I also have a "heat rise detector" which is supposed to detect a rapid change in temperature. I have never set this off, but maybe tonight I will play with the hairdryer .......

Rick

[Peter Parry]

There is no easy answer. The primary risk in kitchens is usually considered to be the hob (chip pan fires) and a heat detector on the ceiling above it is the usual detector to employ. This of course will be as much use as a chocolate spanner when your washing machine at the other end of the kitchen decides to smoulder.

Putting an optical or ionisation detector on the kitchen ceiling simple means you have to cook wearing ear defenders (or get an Aga and have everything soft boiled).

If both appliances are below work surfaces you could consider mounting an ionisation detector on the underside of the worksurface or on the wall below the worksurfaces but behind the appliances. How immune this would be to false alarms depends upon your kitchen, the appliances and airflows - you would need to try it with a simple detector for some time before deciding to cross connect everything. Another solution - which I've used in workshops - is to put in an ionisation or optical detector but run the power to it via a timeswitch so it only comes on at night. This introduces another point of failure so isn't ideal but is better than the alternative of nothing or a thermal detector alone.

[Pete C]

Why not have a heat detector over the cooker and an optical detector elsewhere in the kitchen? Smouldering fires will create a lot of smoke damage and/or burst into flame eventually.

cheers, Pete.

[Christian McArdle]

According to extensive tests on human behaviour, having a smoke detector in the kitchen reduces safety. Basically, even infrequent false alarms massively reduce the speed of response to that alarm condition. As having any sort of smoke detector in the kitchen results in at least one false alarm a week, possibly daily, it reduces the effectiveness of the system massively. Basically, the response to an alarm becomes "the f*cking alarm's gone off again" rather than "oh f*ck let's get out of here".

Christian.

[Huge]

We have a smoke detector in the hall outside the kitchen. We call it the (grilling) bacon detector.

[Gel]

Only Heat Alarms should be installed in a kitchen; smoke alarms either Ion or Optical not suitable in this environment as confirmed in Building Regs/BS Code of Practice 5839 Pt 6.

[The difference in a detector and alarm is that detectors properly describe units connected to a central panel, with no intergral power source/sounder]

For guidance/manuals on smoke & heat alarms see

[Peter Parry]

The regulations are all well and good but they don't actually help the original poster. A heat alarm will not provide any worthwhile protection against smoke from a fire starting in his washing machine or tumble dryer. Equally a smoke alarm (of any economic type)in the kitchen will provide an unacceptable false alarm rate.

Other than putting some sort of switched device I would suggest the best solution is a single ionisation detector in the landing roof.

This provides good protection against a slow developing fire (the first floor alarm will invariably trigger before the ground floor alarm even when the fire develops on the ground floor) yet also provide reasonable immunity from nuisance alarms (where the ground floor alarm usually triggers first).

[Pete C]

Having an ionisation alarm in the kitchen or maybe even near the kitchen is a bad idea, but in my experience an optical alarm is absolutely fine. If you could post a link to one of these tests I'd be interested to see what type of alarm was involved.

Could anyone else relate experiences of using an optical alarm in the kitchen?

cheers, Pete.