Smoke Detectors

Hard-Wired vs. Battery-Powered

I’m one of those people whose smoke detector works a little too well for my liking. On any given night I will be making dinner and it will go off. I tend to take it as an insult to my cooking skills until I remember that it’s an inanimate object, and an inanimate object can’t insult me. (Right? Really, I’m a good cook!) Anyway, part of me is really glad that the smoke detector works like it is supposed to. It gives me peace of mind that if a fire does start in my home, my trusty little kitchen critic is going to do it’s real job and let me know.

According to the NFPA, smoke alarms sounded in roughly half of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments. Only half. There is a good chance that the other half was unaware of the fire until it had caused significant damage and perhaps injury or death. Half is not good enough.

According to the same study, the death rate per 100 reported fires is twice as high in homes without working smoke alarms. That’s twice as many preventable deaths, all because of a small piece of inexpensive and easily-accessible equipment.

Now here is the kicker: Nearly two thirds of the smoke alarms in home fires were battery-operated. In more than half of reported fires in which smoke detectors did not operate, it was because they were battery-operated detectors in which the batteries were missing or disconnected, 1 in 5 because the batteries were dead. Only 7% were due to hardwired power source problems.

Of course the ideal number would be 0%, but the numbers don’t lie: a hardwired smoke detector with a battery back-up is the smartest, safest option. Fires can break out unexpectedly, and fire is nondiscriminatory. One of the main factors to determine whether you and your home can survive a fire relatively unscathed is the effectiveness of your smoke detector. Don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to make sure you are protected?

3D can hard-wire and install your smoke detector(s) for you.