Most times when I hear an alarm (presumably for fire) go off in the office or a public place, it goes as such:
- Observe for any signs of actual emergency: smoke, smell, flame, first responders, or panicking crowds
- If nothing unusual seen and nobody is getting up, assume it’s a false alarm and continue with task at hand
- (Most of the time) Alarm was false and goes away within a few minutes
- (<1% of the time) There is indeed a fire somewhere in the building and people take their time gathering belongings before leisurely walking to the nearest door
Same goes in the house:
- Wake up groggy, assume false alarm again
- Put on pants, check out the source of the noise
- (4 times in current residence) Find no indication of fire, hush alarm
- Alarm shuts up with a dose of compressed air. If not, sledgehammer time and buy a new one the next day.
That can’t be how most of us are supposed to go about it, right?
Is it for a lack of better smoke detection technology? A consequence of buying low-quality detectors? While we’re at it, can anyone recommend a smoke detector that does its job with a minimum of false alarms?
There is nuance in installing fire alarms, make sure you are using the correct detector type for each area, and installing it correctly.
I’m pretty sure strong drafts or dusty areas can set it off.
Also know that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are consumable items that should be replaced, usually 7-10 years but it should be noted on the device.
At the end of the day, it wakes you up to check, or causes you to observe for an emergency. Imagine your wake up groggy situation but you smell smoke. Personally I would like that chance to be able to evacuate.
I once stayed at an AirBnB that had the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen installed: On close inspection it’s revealed to be a heat detector. It’s designed to go off at temperatures over 50°C. It was installed directly above the oven.
After it triggered for the fourth time in an hour while cooking, I smashed it off the ceiling and complained about the overall quality of the apartment. The owner never had the audacity to charge me for it
It may have been a rate of rise vs a hard upper limit for the heat detector. If it was, about 8-10°C / 15-20°F change per minute would set it off. Makes sense for it to go off over an oven. The hard upper limit type are single use, I don’t know if that causes them to repeatedly go off or not.
Either way with more regulated short term rentals, a fire inspection would likely have flagged that.