PSA: check your smoke alarm batteries

[Annisman*]

Had an interesting morning yesterday, got out of work at 4AM and stayed up to meet my GF for a quick breakfast in Niagara Falls Canada, got home at around 8AM. I was pretty tired from the long shift and the driving to and from the border so I was upstairs in bed pretty quickly like maybe 5 minutes after getting home. Thankfully instead of passing out straight away I derped around on my phone for about 10 minutes and then I heard it...smoke alarm downstairs. Run downstairs straight up naked and my entire kitchen is filling with thick smoke ! Somehow the toaster oven was turned on. I haven't used that thing in months I have zero clue as to how the heck it was on (the dial showed it was off). Grabbed some pot holders and ran that thing outside to my patio (still naked) and opened up every window in my house to dissipate the smoke. I am the worst at checking my detector batteries I know for a fact I have a couple that aren't working that is going to change very very soon. Also definitely picking up a fire extinguisher. Man that got my blood flowing. Also I'm a pretty heavy sleeper and I was exhausted, I don't think the alarm downstairs would ever wake me up it'd have to hit the detector right above my bed. Scary thought.

TLDR: toaster oven went rogue and tried to light my house on fire minutes before I was supposed to be sleeping smoke alarm saved my life.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yep good idea to test once in a while. Which I just did now.

Actually I keep meaning to buy one of those cans of fake smoke, great way to test that they actually work too. The button confirms the batteries are good but actual smoke will test that it will detect right.

On same subject, my parents had a fire in their house that originated outside, if my dad had not heard noise outside and went to check I have a feeling they would not be here today. The smoke detector never went off because the fire was outside, and eventually in the attic. It kinda got me thinking that outside and attic smoke detectors should actually be a standard and should link to inside but with some kind of indication that it's originating from outside (so you don't just turn it off and ignore it). I eventually want to look at linking up my smoke detectors so that I can get an alert if I'm not home, too.

 

[sdifox]

I know mine works by the smoke I create in the kitchen...

 

[Brainonska511]

The last smoke/CO detector I bought is one of those 7-10 year, permanently installed battery types. I test it every now and again to make sure it works, but when it dies, it'll just be replaced in its entirety. The detector portions don't last forever, even if you do change batteries.

 

[John Connor]

The problem you had was that you left that electric element coil thing-a-mabob plugged in. I always unplug the toaster oven and the toaster.


I do test my batteries every October in remembrance of the great Chicago fire. I also use lithium batteries as those are great for slow-drain devices like a CO/smoke alarm.

The best smoke alarm you can get is a radiological (for lack of the word) combination optical unit. They use two sensors to detect different types of smoke. For smoldering smoke the optical sensor will kick in.

 

[PottedMeat]

i tend to unplug everything out of habit in the kitchen. the only thing that stays on is the microwave.


i thought this was going to be about the oakland fire http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-oakland-fire-recovery-20161205-story.html

 

[highland145]

^^^
iirc, replace the whole thing every 10 years. The sensors get "dirty."

 

[John Connor]

That Oakland fire is creepy. I mean, I had a dream I was at a warehouse fire and me and all the rescuers were using IR goggles to find the dead bodies. Freaks me out.

 

[John Connor]

^^^
iirc, replace the whole thing every 10 years. The sensors get "dirty."

This is correct.

 

[Tweak155]

Glad everything seems to be OK at least. Could have ended up much worse!

 

[pete6032]

But it's not January 1st yet!

 

[spacejamz]

who doesn't love playing the 'guess which smoke detector has the low battery' beeping game?? especially at 3 in the morning and you have 4 detectors on a vaulted ceiling so you have to get the 8 foot ladder from the garage to play the game...

 

[TwiceOver]

I've been buying the ZWave CO/Smoke detectors. So far so good. Hope to get the rest changed out this year.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Not good. Unused appliances combusting? Must be paranormal.

I know my bedroom smoke alarm works because I light a smoky candle now and then. So high-pitched though - not sure it could awaken me.

 

[purbeast0]

I just ordered a box of 9V batteries on Amazon for this exact reason. I have 2 or 3 that I haven't had in use for a while and figured I should probably put them back. My smoke detectors are all connected so if one goes off, then they all go off. And it's loud as shit, I've cooked some stuff on the stove that was smoking enough to make them go off.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The last smoke/CO detector I bought is one of those 7-10 year, permanently installed battery types. I test it every now and again to make sure it works, but when it dies, it'll just be replaced in its entirety. The detector portions don't last forever, even if you do change batteries.

My parents detector was from 1986 lol. It actually still worked once the firemen opened the attic hatch and smoke started to get in the house, but yeah I told them they should change it more often, not just once when the house is built. . They start to get less sensitive over time.

 

[Elixer]

My parents detector was from 1986 lol. It actually still worked once the firemen opened the attic hatch and smoke started to get in the house, but yeah I told them they should change it more often, not just once when the house is built. . They start to get less sensitive over time.

What gets less sensitive, your parents, or the detector?

All kidding aside, they make 10 year detectors, which you toss out after 10 years, but the problem is, they are starting to fail much sooner than that.
Found that out the hard way when there was smoke, and the detector didn't do squat, but it still "worked" when you pressed the test button, in that the alarm sounded. But for smoke? Nope, not a peep, and it was one of those dual detectors for different kinds of fires.

Also if you have a monoxide detector the ONLY way to check if that does indeed work is to buy a can of CO (monoxide), but, that is around $16. No, you can't take it outside to your car, and stick it by the muffler, that actually voids the warranty of CO detectors.

 

[Pantoot]

Tis the season, this happened to my son's friend on friday. Warning its a gofundme page, I couldn't find any of the articles from last week (but I didn't bother looking for more than 3 seconds)
https://www.gofundme.com/hg-family-lost-everything-in-home-fire

 

[Brainonska511]

Tis the season, this happened to my son's friend on friday. Warning its a gofundme page, I couldn't find any of the articles from last week (but I didn't bother looking for more than 3 seconds)
https://www.gofundme.com/hg-family-lost-everything-in-home-fire

Jeez... no home insurance?

 

[Pantoot]

Jeez... no home insurance?

Yeah, my son didn't really grill the girl on it, but from what we gather it was a rental, so they really mean they didn't have insurance for their belongings.

 

[Imp]

That's weird, but I think the manual in my most recent toaster oven said to unplug it when not in use.

We have two plugged in because cheap ass hoarders can't stand the thought of throwing out the second old one. The newest one is on a very accessible surge protector that I would turn off if it weren't in use, but someone needs to plug a lamp into it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

We have this super old toaster oven at work, we always laugh because whenever there's a safety inspection we have to hide it. It's always unplugged, but just them seeing that thing would freak them right out. It looks like it's probably from like 1980 and could randomly catch on fire if you look at it funny.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Thanks for reminding us. Do they make rechargable 9Vs?

 

[Red Squirrel]

They do, but the voltage is lower due to chemistry, so they don't tend to work well in smoke alarms. Same with AA's, the rechargeable ones are 1.2v instead of 1.5 so a lot of stuff won't like them as they will think the battery is dead and show the low battery indicator.

I'd love to see us move towards lithium ion as being the main battery type for stuff. A single cell is 3.7v nominal, so devices would just need to be designed to take voltage in that increment. I think for lot of devices that take 2 AA's you could probably replace that with a single 18650, it's going to be higher voltage but might be within spec. It's kinda tempting to try it for wii remotes...

 

[rh71]

We have the whole house connected so if one goes off, all of them do, which is good for when you're upstairs.

I used to unplug the toaster and tea kettle whenever not in use because of the potential for this to happen, but thought it would never happen and have just left them plugged. Now you go and post this thread.

BTW, no smoke detectors in the kitchen... so it would have to spread to the living room first. I assume this is typical?