Smoke alarm 1 or 2 ?

[johnny bravo]

Hi guys, I forgot about installing some smoke alarms when we had a through lounge..duh!..now everything plastered and painted do you Think I should put 1 or 2 smoke alarms?..basically it's two standard 13ft rooms into one now, ie 26ft.

 

[edds]

Two will give you a better chance if a fire starts at one end, you'll know sooner and so can react quicker.

 

[johnny bravo]

Yeah I was thinking that..think I'll get 2 ...each in the centre as if they were two separate rooms..wish i knew where the joists were..dontvteally fancy drilling into a nice new painted ceiling..

 

[Kazb10]

Hi Johnny,

If you are talking about a 26 foot square room (around 64m squared), two would be ideal, although with your proposed layout there would be some overlap between the maximum permissible smoke detection radii (7.5m) as set by the regulations, which is perfectly fine. Better safe than sorry as they say. Also, if you want to avoid drilling unnecessary holes, then a good investment would be a stud detector/wall scanner, which will also tell you if there are any pipes or electrical cables in the area you are scanning. A worthwhile investment for future use as well. Be advised though that most will not detect through larden plaster, although I'm assuming you have skimmed boards up there. A good one that I know of is the Bosch GMS120. Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Karim

 

[Ollie 1980]

Why not go for 3?