When it comes to protecting your property and loved ones you’ll have locks on your doors and use a key to get in every time you go out. Why? Because you want to keep your valuables safe and make sure nothing happens to your family. Locks are a given yet having reliable smoke detectors are not always given the same property or care.

Installing and maintaining a smoke detector is far less expensive and inconvenient than the locks you use to come and go each day, yet correct installation, battery checks and a regular test are often overlooked.

Without a smoke detector in your home that is powered and ready to go, you are at risk of sleeping through a night-time fire.

Fire can happen in any home, at any time. Electrical fires can occur with little warning as your wires are hidden within your walls so any damage, faults or poor installation can go unnoticed until things get out of control. As well as faulty electrical equipment and wiring, fires start by candles, cooking, heaters and Christmas lights left unattended.

There are different types of smoke detectors that help in different ways but you have no way of knowing what type of fire you might encounter. Call an electrician to find out what smoke detector is best for you.

Why Should I Install Smoke Detectors?

You can’t be on alert every minute of the day. You need sleep and there will be countless distractions in a day to pull you away from what you are doing. A smoke detector stands in when you are not giving your home your full attention. They are constantly available to sense the smallest change in the environment to give you the very best possible head start to get out and get help.

Smoke detectors are designed to give you an early warning by constantly checking the surroundings for signs of smoke, flames or both. This enables you to get others up and find a safe exit for everyone before fire blocks doorways or smoke barricades the home.

The most important aspect of smoke detection is protecting your family. Children are especially vulnerable as they will often sleep through smoke alarms so you will need to be available to wake them or carry them outside your home in an emergency situation.

As well as protecting your family you are also protecting your home and contents by giving firefighters enough time to arrive at the scene and get a fire under control. In some cases you might even have time to safely put the fire out yourself. One of the biggest inhibitors to escaping fires and putting them out is smoke. Alarms will give firefighting teams an audible indication of where the fire is located so they can locate a fire, move people away and put it out faster.

Because of the devastating damage and loss-of-life fires can cause, state governments have made smoke detectors mandatory in all Australian homes. As a homeowner you are legally obligated to have smoke detectors correctly installed and maintained.

Whatever type of smoke detector you opt for, it will only work when the smoke detectors are working. Smoke detectors are constantly active, something people don’t realise when it comes to changing batteries - they are powered all the time and active. Letting a battery go flat or not noticing that a device has lost effectiveness gives a false sense of security. It’s important that you regularly check your smoke detectors, change the battery annually and change the device every ten years.

It’s not worth it to leave fire safety unchecked. You have everything riding on a working smoke detection system. Ask a qualified electrician for help so you can get the right set up perfected and working in your home today.