It’s a sobering statistic: Three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
The good news is that a high-quality alarm can cost less than $20. And now Consumer Reports is making finding the best, most budget-friendly smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for your family even easier.
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Simon Glinsek and his family were lucky to make it out of their home after a dryer caught fire.
“Smoke… like white smoke billowing out of the dryer area,” he said. “It just went so fast; it boggles my mind at how fast it goes.”
Today, many house fires burn faster, hotter, and are deadlier than ever.
“40 years ago, you would have had 17 minutes to get out of a house on fire,” John Galeotafiore with Consumer Reports said. “Today? Just 3 minutes.”
That’s because many newer homes have open floor plans with fewer walls and doors, allowing the fire to travel faster and more freely. Another factor:
“A lot of homes today have furnishings made with synthetic materials, like plastic or particleboard, which burn much quicker than say, solid wood,” he explained.
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So, getting an early fire warning and then getting out is more important than ever.
This advice from the National Fire Protection Association makes it easy -- Install an alarm on each floor, test at least once a month, and replace after 10 years. Here are some other things to consider when looking for an alarm:
- Hardwired detectors require special wiring that’s typically found only in newer or renovated homes. It runs from the detector into a wall or ceiling.
- Battery-powered detectors are wireless, which means they can be installed anywhere. They typically use replaceable batteries (usually 9-volt or AA) or lithium batteries that are sealed inside and last 10 years.
- Plug-in detectors receive power from an outlet. Like hardwired detectors, though, they have a backup battery that takes over in the event of a power outage and those batteries need to be replaced annually.
Learn more about smoke alarms and what Consumer Reports recommends by going to their website.