Fire Safety In The Home

Mains connected photoelectric smoke alarms in Sydney are one of the most important things to consider when looking after your home’s fire safety. Early detection is key, being alerted to what might be just a curtain or piece of furniture smoldering due to being too close to a heater or a pot burning dry on the stove.

With enough smoke alarms you will know if there is a problem before it gets out of control. Statistics given by NSW Fire say that families have a 60% increased chance of dying in a house fire when not protected by working Smoke Alarms. Those odds aren’t good so, have your smoke detectors checked for peace of mind.

Residential Fire Safety In Sydney, The Breakdown

Here is some useful and interesting statistics on where house fires start…
Sorry about the quality, I’ve listed the Stats next to the image..

Heating 9% 299
Appliances 8% 250
Cooking 16% 493
Electrical 8% 251
Bedroom 8% 254
Kitchen 47% 1306
Lounge 7% 209

 

 

The Kitchen Takes The Prize!

No surprise the kitchen takes the prize with 47% of House Fires!! You know what they say about fire safety and cooking…

Keep looking when cooking!

But seriously, you should never leave cooking unattended. Stay in the kitchen while cooking and turn off the stove before you leave.

Home Wiring, Smoke Alarms & Safety Switches

From an electricians view point it is important to ensure you have your home wiring and switchboard checked by a licensed electrician. Smoke Alarms, Safety Switch protection on every circuit is essential in my view. In some circumstances even Arc Fault Detection Devices and Surge Protection at the switchboard, is also a good idea in some homes at higher risk.

Electrical Safety Risks

Another consideration from an electricians view point is to replace those old, recessed halogen downlights with the modern high quality IC-F rated LED down lights. Old recessed halogen downlights are old technology and can be a fire risk so time for them to go. Also go through the home and look for any signs of damage to power points, light switches and light fittings and get them repaired or replaced by an insured and licensed electrician ASAP.

Some other simple things you can do yourself that don’t cost much and do reduce your risk of fire is, in the same vein is to stop overloading power points and power boards! Even though they are legal, double adapters and power boards are still not a good idea, especially with appliances that draw heavy current like heaters for example. Plug heaters and heavy current drawing appliances directly into quality power points. Doubling up into power boards and double adapters can cause excess current and excess current equals excess heat resulting melted plastic! This practice is not safe and could potentially start a fire.

One more good habit to get into is turn off appliances at the power point where possible. Apart from eliminating the potential danger of a faulty live appliance being left on and unattended, in some appliances this limit the standby power usage and will lower your annual power bills.

Heater Safety

Heaters are another big danger, at nearly 10% of house fires. Remember to always keep heaters well away from furniture & any combustible material! As that saying goes..

Always keep your heater away by a metre

Keep everything one metre away from your heater. Install and use as per manufacturer’s instructions. If you suspect a fault, have the heater serviced or replaced. Always supervise young children in rooms with open fires or working heaters. Talking about heaters now would be prudent to mention not only the obvious fire risk but also the carbon monoxide poisoning risk from using external heating equipment inside your home like ‘heat beads’ or LPG as a fuel source.

Weather it’s heating or cooking with this equipment indoors can lead to a build up of carbon monoxide which could be fatal. All heating devices should be used in accordance with manufacturer’s recommended practices. It’s important to look up and read the manufacturers instructions and follow recommendations to educate yourself and gain experience with the dangers.

Danger In The Laundry

Check that your clothes dryer lint filter is clean before every load. Don’t try to save money on electrical power boards chargers and battery-operated devices. Stick to reputable quality brands from big retailers to ensure your chances of buying genuine quality.

Interlinked Smoke Alarms

In conclusion, Mains Powered Photoelectric Interlinked Smoke Alarms are best practice when it comes to early warning of a fire breaking out in your home. The aim of the game is, you want the best chance of being woken and alerted to a fire. This comes down to optimal positioning of the smoke alarms and depending on the budget, interlinking the alarms and adding alarms inside bedrooms. For more information on what to consider check out this blog post: Six things to know about residential smoke alarm maintenance in Sydney

 

When it comes to house fires, seconds save lives! We offer Smoke Alarm Replacement Service Sydney if you need help. What if you don’t think you will hear the alarm when you are asleep? There are solutions for everybody. For the hearing impaired and deaf people, extra protection is needed. An approved system supplied the Deaf Society NSW will help the hearing impaired and deaf people by using a multiple facet approach with not only an audible alarm on the photoelectric smoke detector there is also a flash receiver which will alert you with bright strobe light. Simultaneously a pillow shaker, placed under your pillow creates powerful vibrations to ensure you are alerted to the danger if you are asleep.

More info at…

Fire & Rescue NSW.

It’s important to have your Smoke Alarms accessed and checked by a licensed electrician so that your alarms are situated as per the regulations, because you and your family need the best chance if a fire breaks out in your home.