Although some people believe that deaths from house fires occur because of a lack of fire alarms, local, state and federal laws have guaranteed that most U.S. households contain at least one alarm. Yet, homeowners and landlords in places that require alarms often don't maintain the tech. National fire and safety organizations have found that many fire-related deaths happen in homes that contained malfunctioning or non-working alarms.

A fire can happen at any time. A greasy pan can catch fire on a kitchen stove. An old electrical cord with cracked insulation and outer sheathing can suddenly spark. A power surge from lightning can overheat and literally cook the internal parts on a television. A working alarm is the best solution for making sure that adults, children and pets receive enough warning to extinguish the flames or escape before the fire spreads. This guide provides the basic steps for maintaining fire alarms.

Proper Procedure for Fire Alarm Testing

As with any consumer product, more than one manufacturer produces fire and smoke alarms. As a result, these products have different designs that can impact testing procedures. Homeowners and renters can follow the safety and testing instructions provided with the alarm. If they don't have those instructions, they can usually find the information on the manufacturer's website.

In general, most consumer-grade alarms have a "Test" button on the front of the alarm. A person merely needs to press the button, or press and hold for at least five seconds, to see if the alarm emits a piercing sound. Most alarms are designed to not issue a sound if any part of the system malfunctions, suffers a hardware defect or contains a low-charge battery. Whenever possible, it's wise to perform the test and a fire safety drill at the same time with other household members present.

To test if an alarm detects smoke in a home that doesn't have sprinklers, a person can simply generate smoke with a match or candle. They merely need to hold the lit item more than 3 feet away from the alarm.

Testing Frequency

Consumer fire alarms typically emit a sound between 80 and 85 decibels, which is equivalent to the noise produced by many types of standard bedroom clock alarms, large kitchen blenders and gas-powered lawn mowers. Although this might not seem so bad, the noise can cause hearing loss with lengthy exposure during a single test or over time. For these reasons, manufacturers and fire safety experts usually recommend testing fire alarms only once a week.

To test weekly, a homeowner or renter can reduce the risk of damage to their hearing by learning how their fire alarm sounds when they wear earplugs. They need to test the alarm without wearing any sort of protection the first time, and then test the alarm with protection to learn the difference in sound. Once they understand it, they can test without protection once a month and with protection three times a month. By following these steps, they can also learn how to adjust earplugs at night so that they can enjoy a good night's rest every night and hear their alarm if a fire happens while they're sleeping.

Fire Alarm Placement

The placement of a fire alarm is almost as important as testing. Even with an alarm blaring at 85 dB, a person might not hear the sound if placement is anywhere outside of commonly used areas of the home. Manufacturers recommend mounting at least one smoke alarm to the ceiling or wall of every room and hallway in a home.

It's important to note that they don't recommend placing an alarm exactly where a ceiling and wall meet since that area creates a pocket where smoke and particles accumulate without drifting close to a nearby alarm. They also don't recommend placement in spots where air movement can displace smoke, such as near a door, window or vent. Lastly, they advise against alarm placement within 10 feet of cooking appliances.

For people who can afford whole-home smart systems, they recommend a wired or wireless interconnected setup. These systems offer mobile alert notification and remote-access capabilities. Additional extra options to consider include alarms that detect carbon monoxide and provide bright LED illumination at night.