Smoke alarms sense smoke well before you can, alerting you to danger.

In the event of fire, you may have as little as 2 minutes to escape safely, which is why smoke alarms need to be in every bedroom/sleeping area, outside of the sleeping areas (like a hallway), and on each level of the home (including the basement). Do not put smoke alarms in your kitchen or bathrooms.

• Install smoke alarms inside and outside every bedroom and sleeping area (like a hallway).

• Install on every level of the home, including the basement.

• A smoke alarm should be on the ceiling or high on a wall.

• Keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen to reduce nuisance, or false, alarms. They should be at least 10 feet (3 meters) from the stove.

• A continued set of three loud beeps—beep, beep, beep—means smoke or fire. Get out, call 9-1-1, and stay out.

• A single chirp every 30 or 60 seconds means the battery is low and must be changed.

• All smoke alarms must be replaced 10 years after its manufacturing date.

• Chirping that continues after the battery has been replaced means the alarm is at the end of its life and the unit must be replaced.

There is a difference between a smoke “detector” and a smoke “alarm”.

A smoke detector is just a sensor that monitors for smoke and is connected to a whole building fire alarm system.

A smoke alarm has both the sensor to monitor for smoke and the speaker that makes the sound to notify the home occupants. When referring to the devices found in most homes, smoke alarms is the correct term to use