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Everyone is required to have smoke detectors in the home, and it is important to know the regulations on their use. For example, the minimum requirement of how many you should have, where they should be placed, battery type and replacement.
Did you know, for example, that smoke alarms need to be replaced after ten years? Smoke alarms have a useful life of 8-10 years, and even if they work, they must be replaced after those years. The production date can be found at the bottom, so you should take a look at it every now and then to see if it’s time to change.
The life-saving smoke alarm trick
Check your smoke alarm
Also, the Building Quality Directorate recommends that some smoke detectors are already replaced now, and this applies to models without a battery cushion. The reason is that the lack of pillow makes it easier to insert the battery incorrectly, according to the Directorate for Building Quality and the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB).
– Messages of concern describe smoke alarms that have become very hot, causing the smoke alarms to have shorted out. In some cases, there has been development of smoke. We have also received reports of smoke alarms that have charred, says Director Per-Arne Horne of the Directorate of Construction Quality (DiBK) in a press release.
If the battery is inserted incorrectly, it can be quickly drained for power and heat, smoke can develop and, in the worst case, fire, DiBK cautions.
In the video on the top of the case, you can see the difference between a smoke alarm without and with a battery pad.
The most common causes of fires are easy to avoid.
Encourage change
Horne notes that it is allowed to sell smoke alarms that do not have battery pads, but based on the messages of concern they have received, they issue a blanket request to replace all smoke alarms that they do not have.
– This does not apply to smoke alarms that have been delivered and installed by alarm companies, it adds.
SMOKE ALARMS: The Directorate for Building Quality and the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning recommend that you use battery-pad smoke detectors. Photo: Knut Falch / NTB
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And there are probably a lot that should change, based on DiBK and DSB’s recommendation. A survey by the Forecasting Center has around 10 million smoke alarms in Norwegian houses and cabins, around 650,000 of them without a battery pad.
– We encourage all people who have smoke detectors over the years to check their smoke detectors at home or in the cabin. Smoke alarms without a battery pad for a 9 volt battery need to be replaced, is Horne’s call.
DiBK’s advice for home and cottage owners
- Check if smoke alarms are within the “best before date”; smoke alarms should be replaced after 8 to 10 years. You will find the production date on the back.
- Check to see if older smoke detectors with a 9 volt battery have a battery pad that helps you set up the battery in the correct way. Replace smoke alarms that do not have a battery pad. This applies to smoke alarms that you have purchased and installed yourself, not to smoke alarms associated with alarm companies.
- Test the smoke detector after replacing the battery to make sure it works.
- Read the operating instructions supplied with the smoke alarm. It must be in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.
