NFPA Fact Sheets 

 

Smoke alarm technology has been around since the 1960s. But the single-station, battery-powered smoke alarm we know today became available to consumers in the 1970s. NFPA estimates that 94% of U.S. homes have at least one smoke alarm, and most states have laws requiring them in residential dwellings.

Facts & Figures*

• 15 of every 16 homes (94%) in the U.S. have at least one smoke alarm.
• One-half of home fire deaths occur in the 6% of homes with no smoke alarms.
• Homes with smoke alarms (whether or not they are operational) typically have a death rate that is 40-50% less than the rate for homes without alarms.
• In three of every 10 reported fires in homes equipped with smoke alarms, the devices did not work. Households with non-working smoke alarms now outnumber those with no smoke alarms.
• Why do smoke alarms fail? Most often because of missing, dead or disconnected batteries. 
  
  (*From NFPA's "U.S. Experience with Smoke Alarms and Other Fire Alarms")

Safety Tips: Installing/testing smoke alarms 

 

These easy safety tips can keep your whole family safer.  

 

• While smoke alarms alert people to fires, families still need to develop and practice home fire escape plans so that they can get out quickly.

Tips for installing your smoke alarms correctly:

• Install smoke alarms Listed (examined and tested to appropriate product safety standards) by a qualified testing laboratory on every level of your home, including the basement (but not unfinished attics). Make sure there is an alarm in or near every sleeping area. If you sleep with the door closed, NFPA recommends installing smoke alarms inside the room. In new homes, smoke alarms are required in all sleeping rooms, according to the National Fire Alarm Code.
• NFPA recommends that people with hearing impairments install smoke alarms with louder alarm signals and/or strobe lights to alert them to a fire.
• Mount the smoke alarms high on ceilings or walls – remember, smoke rises. Ceiling-mounted alarms should be installed at least four inches away from the nearest wall; wall-mounted alarms should be installed four to 12 inches away from the ceiling.
• Don't install smoke alarms near windows, outside doors, or ducts where drafts might interfere with their operation.
• Don't paint your smoke alarms; paint or other decorations could keep them from working when you most need it.
• Be sure that the smoke alarm you buy carries the label of an independent testing lab. For a list of manufacturers that distribute smoke alarms for the hearing impaired, please call NFPA´s Center for High-Risk Outreach at +1 617 984-7826.

Tips for keeping your smoke alarms working properly: 

 

Test your smoke alarms at least once a month by using the alarms' "test button." Never use an open-flame device to test the alarm as you could burn yourself or start a fire. If the smoke alarm manufacturer's instructions permit the use of an aerosol smoke product for testing the smoke alarm, only use one that has been Listed by a third-party product testing agency, and utilize it in accordance with the product instructions.

• Replace the batteries in your smoke alarms once a year, or as soon as the alarm "chirps," warning that the battery is low. Helpful hint: schedule battery replacements for the same day you change your clock from daylight to standard time in the fall.
• Regularly vacuuming or dusting your smoke alarm following manufacturer's instructions can help keep it working properly.
• Replace your smoke alarms once every 10 years.
• Never "borrow" a battery from a smoke alarm.
• Make sure that everyone in your home can hear and recognize the sound of the alarm and knows how to react immediately.
• Read NFPA´s smoke alarm fact sheet.