Your Smoke, Carbon Monoxide and Heat Alarms
If you even looked at the instructions to your alarms, you probably set them aside promising yourself to actually read them some day. That is, until your alarms go off. So, here are some essential facts about your alarms that you should know BEFORE you actually need them.
If your home has this FireX interconnected system;
| NOTE: FireX was acquired by Kiddie and has discontinued the FireX line. The Kiddie line IS NOT compatible with the FireX interconnect system and the FireX PAD (4480), ADH (5700) or FADCM (12000) models. |
Operation
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THREE beeps = FIRE, FOUR beeps = CO |
If your home was built after 2006, it came installed with three (3) types of alarms; heat alarms in your garage, smoke alarms in your bedrooms and smoke/carbon monoxide alarms just outside of your bedrooms. All three types of alarms have battery back-ups and audible/visible low-battery warnings.
What You Need To Know
- All of the detectors are interconnected, so that when one goes off, they all go off. This is going to create a lot of noise and confusion. Be prepared.
- Shutting off the power to the alarms from the circuit breakers in your basement WILL NOT silence the alarms because they have battery backups.
False (or nuisance) Alarms
So what do you do if you experience a false or nuisance alarm?
- Press the button on one of the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. This will silence all of the alarms except for the one that triggered the alarm in the first place.
- Press the button on the triggered fire alarm to silence it for about 15 minutes. Repeat as necessary while the air clears.
Defective Alarms
Alarms can fail in alarm mode. The alarm can be removed to silence it and replaced as soon as possible.
HINT: Try vacuuming the vents on the outside of the alarm to be sure dust hasn't accumulated.
- Press the button on one of the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. This will silence all of the alarms except for the one that triggered the alarm in the first place.
- Remove the problem alarm by twisting it counter-clockwise, disconnecting the three-wire connector from the alarm and removing the battery.
- EVERY YEAR - You should replace the batteries in all of your alarms annually or when the low battery alarm sounds. The 9' ceilings in your home (and higher in your garage) make this difficult. Hire someone to change them for you if you are unable to do so yourself.
- EVERY WEEK - Test each alarm weekly by pressing it's TEST button. HINT: Buy a 5 foot tomato stake and use it to reach the test button on all of your detectors. Because your alarms are interconnected, the other alarms will also sound when the TEST button is pressed.
Why two types of fire detectors?
Ionization detectors respond faster to flaming fires while photoelectric detectors respond faster to smoldering fires such as those ignited by a cigarette in bedding material. Ionization detectors have a tendency to cause more false alarms than the photoelectric type. The International Association of Fire Chiefs suggest installing both types.
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