Why You Should Consider Interconnecting Your Home's Smoke Alarms

A fire starts in the electrical box in the corner of the basement. The nearby fire alarm sounds, alerting those in the area of the risk. But you're upstairs, two floors away, and cannot hear it. If you had interconnected smoke alarms, not only would you know about the fire faster thanks to all the alarms in the home blaring out simultaneously, but it could save your life by giving you more time to leave the property. Thus, interconnecting a home's smoke alarms is a critical step for improving the safety of your home when there's a fire risk.

What does it mean to have linked or connected smoke alarms? In short, it means that when one alarm sounds, all of the connected alarms in the house sound — not just the one that's near the fire. When done correctly, this arrangement helps to send off an alert sooner, long before the smoke from the basement reaches the upstairs floors of the home where you and your family are. Interconnecting your home's smoke alarms can be tricky, but if you are installing a new system (or wish to enhance your home's safety), it's worth taking a closer look at how these systems work.

Hardwired smoke alarms have quickly become a code requirement for new construction properties in many states. "Hardwired" means that the system receives power directly from the home's electrical system and does not rely on batteries to operate (though most have a backup battery just in case). Thus, by hardwiring a home's smoke alarms, there's minimal risk of your family being in danger due to units that lack the power required to sound an alarm. The other benefit of hardwiring your smoke alarms is that they will be interconnected and capable of sounding off an alarm in tandem.

If the smoke alarms in your home are not hardwired, you've still got options. For instance, certain smart smoke alarms connect with each other via wireless technology and don't need to be hardwired in order to communicate. As a result, when one of the sensors picks up on the presence of smoke or heat, depending on its functionality, a message is sent to all other units in the home, allowing them all to sound. Some even go a step further by sending a push notification or text message to your smartphone or verbally indicating the approximate location of the smoke. This allows you to have as much warning about the risk as possible and may help you pinpoint the cause before significant damage is done.

Having smoke alarms positioned throughout your home is ideal. The sooner you receive a fire warning, the more time you have to leave the home or address the source. Typically, there should be at least one on every level of the house. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there should also be one in the area just outside where people sleep, as well as one inside each bedroom.

Interconnected smoke alarms should use both ionization and photoelectric detection technology. Ionization-type alarms respond better to the presence of actual flames, allowing them to respond specifically to fast-moving fires. By contrast, photoelectric smoke alarms can pick up on smoldering fires, where there may be more smoke with fewer flames. Having both types present helps to ensure most risks are covered. Many smoke alarms today have both technologies in place and can be interconnected.

Also, if you are updating smoke alarms in your home, use the same manufacturer for each one and be sure the specific models are compatible. This helps ensure they all work together well. As you work to make your house a smart home, you may even consider installing hardwired smart smoke alarms for the best performance in terms of interconnectivity and smoke detection.