According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), smoke alarms should be installed on every level of your home, including the basement. One fire detector should also be installed inside of every bedroom and outside of each sleeping area.
Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. On levels without bedrooms, install alarms in the living room (or den or family room) or near the stairway to the upper level, or in both locations.
The placement of smoke detectors is very important. Sleeping areas need the most protection. One detector in a short hallway outside the bedroom area is usually adequate. Hallways longer than 30 feet should have one detector every 30 feet.
Since heat and smoke rise, smoke detectors should always be installed on the ceiling. Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed on every level of your home — specifically outside of sleeping areas, in the kitchen, in living/dining areas, and in the garage.
The kitchen
But a smoke detector is important in any kitchen simply because fires often start there -- even if you aren't around when they start. To minimize false alarms, detectors should be mounted at least 10 feet from the stove or oven. In a small kitchen, this may be difficult.
As a result, the NFPA recommends having at least one smoke alarm on every level of the home — including basements — as well as in every bedroom, and outside of each sleeping area. Larger homes may need extra detectors. "It is best to use interconnected smoke alarms.
It is important that fire detectors are installed in all areas of the laundry, including the laundry storage area, and that they are set according to the deceptive phenomena present those areas.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends a carbon monoxide detector on every floor of your home, including the basement. A detector should be located within 10 feet of each bedroom door and there should be one near or over any attached garage. Each detector should be replaced every five to six years.
At a bare minimum, you should place at least one carbon monoxide detector on each floor of your home. For maximum safety though, we recommend placing a CO detector outside each bedroom of your home.
The best place for a CO detector is on a wall roughly five feet from the floor, where it can measure the air at a height that people in the house are breathing it. A reasonable alternative is placing the detector on the ceiling and six inches from the wall.
The one room in which you shouldn't put a smoke alarm is the bathroom because it can be set off by steam from the shower. Placing a smoke detector over the stove may seem like a good spot but is best avoided, too. Dirt and grease can easily block the smoke detector's sensor, making it redundant.
Smoke alarms should be mounted in or near bedrooms and living areas, either on the ceiling or the wall. Ceiling mounting it is typically preferred as it allows the smoke alarm to be placed more centrally in the room.
Locate a smoke alarm in any area where a smoker sleeps or where electrical appliances are operated in sleeping areas. Smoke, heat and other combustion products rise to the ceiling and spread horizontally. Mounting the smoke alarm on the ceiling in the center of the room places it closest to all points in the room.
5.1 of NFPA 72-2010 says you need to have smoke detection within 5 feet of the door. If the wall section above the door (sometimes called a 'transom') is greater than 24 inches, then you need a smoke detector on both sides of the door.
Temperature. Certain fire alarms are sensitive to heat and will go off if they sense a change in temperature (in fact, most fire alarms are a combination of heat- and smoke-activated).
Carbon monoxide is lighter than air. It also rises with warm air, so the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends placing a carbon monoxide detector on a wall about five feet above the floor or about eye level. You can put them on the ceiling, too.
The NFPA recommends that you install a carbon monoxide alarm, like smoke alarms, on every level of your home, inside every bedroom, and outside each sleeping area. Make sure carbon monoxide detectors are also installed near attached garages in case a car is left running, and anywhere else the manufacturer recommends.
Despite many state and local laws, only 27% of homes in America have CO alarms, according to the Hardware/Homecenter Research Industry.
Although they may look and sound similar, CO alarms and smoke alarms are designed and intended to detect two separate, distinct hazards. Therefore, to help protect your family from both hazards, it's important to install both UL Listed CO alarms and smoke detectors.
CPSC recommends that every home should have at least one CO alarm that meets the requirements of the most recent Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 2034 standard or International Approval Services 6-96 standard.
Smoke and fire alarm must-knows
Don't just fit a smoke alarm in your hall and landing – also fit them in any room where a fire can start. For example, any room where you smoke or leave appliances plugged in. Smoke alarms are not suitable for kitchens but heat alarms are.
Smoke Detectors may be placed on walls, but must be higher than any opening into the room (e.g. doors,windows) and are placed between 4” and 12” from the ceiling. Carbon Monoxide detectors may be battery operated or plug in to an electrical outlet.
For additional protection, the Fire Chief recommends that you install detectors inside each bedroom, the dining room, furnace room, utility room and hallways. If your family sleeps with bedrooms doors closed, it's especially important to install detectors inside the bedrooms.