Fire Alarms: A safety must
If you are looking to protect your house from fire, there are a few important things to know about fire alarms. You want to protect your house without over-protecting–and, yes, there is such a thing. There are certain systems that are better for industrial buildings where many people must be alerted; a house is relatively small.Getting a dog is a great place to start. Due to the animal’s loyalty to you and its ability to be woken up very easily–and to wake YOU up easily–a dog is a great sensor. They can often smell smoke just as a fire is starting and rouse you in order that you put it out before damage happens. Dogs are not the last word on the matter, but merely a good supplement to an alarm system.If you have a dog, that is great. If not, you need even more security. Remember, too, that a fire might spread too fast for you to stop at its beginning. A dog is only an alert; it cannot get or give you much other help. You must have an automatic system that calls the fire department for you.That said, you do not want a fire system with a hair trigger. The fire department will be severely annoyed if every time you lit up your fireplace or cooked a meal they were called out. Modern fire alarms have certain degrees of smoke or heat that need to be reached before the fire department is alerted. Some even have motion sensors for flames themselves. Make sure you have a good one.Sprinkler systems are a complicated issue; sure, they can save you from much fire damage, but are they more trouble than they are worth? Probably. Buildings with sprinklers tend to be buildings that are insured and very industrial, with concrete or tile floors and few items that can be damaged by water. A sprinkler going off in your house can be as much of a hassle as a fire. It can mildew your carpets and clothes, destroy furniture, and turn books into mush.Alarms that you have to pull in order for the department to be contacted are pointless. You can only pull the alarm if you know there is a fire in the first place. This is once again a system that is wrong for a home. Get automatic alarms with both light and sound and put them in every major room. Do not take out the batteries or, if the batteries are dying, replace them right away.A fire extinguisher is a very handy tool in a fire, enabling you to potentially stop it yourself. Make sure it is in a good location that you could get to in a fire. Know how to use it. Verify at least once a year that the extinguisher is still working.
