Hi,
I was wondering if some one could recommend a few smoke detectors that are interconnected and are not very sensitive to thinks like steam or making toast. Since I need the detectors to work for two dwellings I was hoping to find ones that work on a delay such as 30 seconds to 1 minutes before the other detector starts to sound.
Thanks,
Carl
As far as I know the smoke detectors for one side of a duplex do not have to trigger the ones on the other side if the separation between the two dwellings is an adequate fire barrier - I live in Michigan, check your local codes.
That said, I don't know of any detectors that have such a delay and wouldn't use them if I did. In a fire every second counts and you want as much noise in the house as soon as possible so that folks have the best chance to escape.
As for steam & cooking errors: Our code calls for smoke detectors to be at least three feet away from a bathroom door and twenty feet from a cooking appliance. We stretch that out as far as we can whenever possible. That said, at twenty feet from the stove we have falsed our smokes twice in the past six years.
When trying to reduce false alarms you should consider placement and living habits along with acceptance that anything can and will likely happen.
What I would counsel against is considering equipment that could kill someone.
a delayed fire zone...hmmm that don't sound good...personally I don't even like the "fire verify" type fire zone
Any photo-electric detector will do, but stay away from Kidde products. They're a major pain. I find the ionization type units are really sensitive to steam and toasters.
If you're talking AC smoke alarms, that's not a good idea. As "Crash" already stated, you want all the sounders going as soon as possible.
I seriously doubt you'd get a fire marshal to sign off on that.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required