Cassel Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Smoke alarms are very important as they can save lives and properties, but at times, they can also "cry wolf". Share experiences you had that EITHER saved you or annoyed you. We can read some serious or funny stories. What can you share?
Michele Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Years ago I lived upstairs in a two-family house. One of the smoke alarms was beeping the low-battery alert. I replaced the one I thought it was, but the beeping continued. I changed another battery and I still heard the beeping. One at a time I took down all the alarms and removed their batteries one at a time. Eventually I removed all the batteries and still heard the beeping!!!! At that point I was seriously doubting my mental health. What I didn't know was that there was an additional smoke alarm at the bottom of the stairs. That was one frustrating day. 🤣 3
Ann Seeber Posted March 12 Posted March 12 My condo has 3 smoke alarms + one that only detects carbon monoxide that my utility company sent as a gift. One day, I heard the familiar high-pitched screech but, looking around, I couldn't find why one or all of them were sounding off. They are all fairly close together because I only have a total of 900 square feet of space. I called the landlord and he ordered me to #1) check the stove burners and #2) get out immediately! I found one burner knob turned but with no flame. I shut it off, roared around opening windows and turned on the HVAC fan as I ran out the patio door, while worrying about my pets! Of course, they were in hiding so I had to trust the gas would dissipate quickly. It was a scary experience! 4
Corrie Kinkel Posted March 12 Posted March 12 In the house we now live are 2 smoke alarms and no carbon monoxide because we only have electricity and no gas. The alarms have an electric connection and a battery as back-up. Those batteries are suppoost to live 10 years. When we bought the house we didn't know how long they were already in and after a couple of years one started to go off at the time we usually go to bed. False alarm!!! They are placed high against the ceiling and we were afraid the whole block would wake up and my husband had no alternative than to shut off the electricity before he went to the shed to fetch the ladder. In the dark with the light of my phone and a flashlight, while standing on a chair so he could more or less see what he did, he managed to get the alarm loose. The next day we called an electrician to check on the alarm and see if it could be repaired. No that wouldn't be a good idea, so installed a new one and checked the other one. We were happy we hadn't already been to bed! However after only 2 weeks the alarm that was replaced sounded again and this time in the middle of the night. So we had to do the same as before and this time it took us longer to get it off, when you are in deep sleep it takes a while before you realize what is happening. Our next door neighbors woke up too! The electrician came again and said this was the first time that he installed a new alarm that had a manufacturing fault. We have a new one and until now it is without fault................. but you never know! 2 2
Susan Ewart Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Alarms in my house have only gone off due to my cooking! At my brothers house the upstairs landing is small and has 3 bedroom and one bathroom off of it. So when they shower and forget to turn the fan on in the bathroom the smoke alarm in the hallway, which is about 5 feet long from one end to the other, goes off. When we first moved to where we are now we were staying in our little RV trailer. I'd go to my brother for a nice long hot shower and forgot one day. OMG! being in the shower with no clothes on and the alarm rings is no picnic. it took about 5 minutes of waving a towel at it for it to shut off. Good thing my brother and rest of the family was at work or school! We do however have water alarms. With sudden downpours here we have had sewer backups (yup, poopy fishys in the basement!) so we bought this fancy alarm and I could dunk in a pool of water and it never went off so we got these other little simple alarms and believe me when they go off I'm sure the neighbors can hear it. Up three levels at the opposite end of the house it's like the alarm is right beside my ear. Luckily my city has a crew that comes out anytime to free the clog which has always been over 150 feet out from my main drain (ie. across the street!). I have to pay for it (used to be $90, the city ate the other $90, now we pay the whole $180. Roto rooter would be $500-700!). We have huge boulevard trees and the roots are caving the the old clay pipe my old 1964 house has. 3
Leo Ooms Posted March 12 Posted March 12 I have six smoke alarms, they are all Nest Protect alarms. You can give every Nest a meaningful descriptive name. They speak and communicate with each other through the wifi network. When one detects something, it transmits the info to the others. So, wherever you are in the house, the smoke alarms says what is happening and most important, where in the house. It says the descriptive name, so you never have to guess ans search where the alarm comes from. A bit pricy, but in my opinion well worth it. 4 1
Corrie Kinkel Posted March 12 Posted March 12 On 3/12/2025 at 4:45 PM, Susan Ewart said: Alarms in my house have only gone off due to my cooking! At my brothers house the upstairs landing is small and has 3 bedroom and one bathroom off of it. So when they shower and forget to turn the fan on in the bathroom the smoke alarm in the hallway, which is about 5 feet long from one end to the other, goes off. When we first moved to where we are now we were staying in our little RV trailer. I'd go to my brother for a nice long hot shower and forgot one day. OMG! being in the shower with no clothes on and the alarm rings is no picnic. it took about 5 minutes of waving a towel at it for it to shut off. Good thing my brother and rest of the family was at work or school! We do however have water alarms. With sudden downpours here we have had sewer backups (yup, poopy fishys in the basement!) so we bought this fancy alarm and I could dunk in a pool of water and it never went off so we got these other little simple alarms and believe me when they go off I'm sure the neighbors can hear it. Up three levels at the opposite end of the house it's like the alarm is right beside my ear. Luckily my city has a crew that comes out anytime to free the clog which has always been over 150 feet out from my main drain (ie. across the street!). I have to pay for it (used to be $90, the city ate the other $90, now we pay the whole $180. Roto rooter would be $500-700!). We have huge boulevard trees and the roots are caving the the old clay pipe my old 1964 house has. Expand Oops that isn't nice and it costs too; however your "adventure" in you brother's shower is hilarious 🤣 4
Leo Ooms Posted March 12 Posted March 12 My alarms also notify before going to full stress. If there is smoke or water vapor they first say that there is 'smoke' in such and such room. You have some time to check it out and press the button in the middle of the alarm to shut it down. Of course you need to get rid of the 'smoke' after that or the situation will repeat itself. 3 1
Michele Posted March 13 Posted March 13 How many of us have stood under a smoke alarm waving a towel at it because it goes off when we're cooking. 🤣 3
Susan Ewart Posted March 13 Posted March 13 On 3/12/2025 at 9:21 PM, Leo Ooms said: My alarms also notify before going to full stress. If there is smoke or water vapor they first say that there is 'smoke' in such and such room. You have some time to check it out and press the button in the middle of the alarm to shut it down. Of course you need to get rid of the 'smoke' after that or the situation will repeat itself. Expand that's so cool. Is the voice loud enough to wake you up? And....do you ever talk back to the "voice" 🤪 2
Leo Ooms Posted March 13 Posted March 13 On 3/13/2025 at 2:33 PM, Susan Ewart said: that's so cool. Is the voice loud enough to wake you up? And....do you ever talk back to the "voice" 🤪 Expand Yes the voice is loud enough. But if you're a tight sleeper you'll surely be awake when it goes to full stress. That thing is so loud it nearly gave me a heart attack when I first heard it. Luckily it was a false alarm, my Wife fogot to turn on the extractor hood while cooking. No I don't talk back. It doesn't like that. 😉 2 1
Corrie Kinkel Posted March 13 Posted March 13 On 3/13/2025 at 2:33 PM, Susan Ewart said: that's so cool. Is the voice loud enough to wake you up? And....do you ever talk back to the "voice" 🤪 Expand I must confess that in such circumstances I talk back, saying/yelling shut up or was this necessary or something like that. My husband still thinks I'm a bit of a lunatic if he happens to hear me and I find that strange after 53 years of marriage he should be accustomed to it by now. 😊 4
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