Smoke, Heat and CO Too
Concerns over safety in the home are heralding substantial growth in the use of hard wired smoke and heat alarms, as well as carbon monoxide alarms, in both new housing and refurbishment.
Gerald Jones
Fyrnetics Business Manager with Kidde Safety Europe
www.kiddefyrnetics.co.uk
September 2001
Concerns over safety in the home are heralding substantial growth in the use of hard wired smoke and heat alarms, as well as carbon monoxide alarms, in both new housing and refurbishment.
While statistics show a reduction in deaths caused by dwelling fires over the last fifteen years, this trend has levelled out recently. Over the last 4 years there has been an increase in domestic fire deaths in the UK and 80 people lost their lives in house fires in Scotland alone during 1999. The extensive and effective use of smoke and heat alarms has a major impact on reducing deaths and injury by fire. Smoke alarms are today a well-established component in new-build homes. In England and Wales the Building Regulations set requirements for hard wired smoke alarms and heat alarms in kitchens opening onto living areas. The Scottish Standards Parts D and E also call for smoke alarms but not heat alarms at present. We should remember that these are minimum standards only: in America, it is typical to have a smoke alarm in every bedroom and house builders' research in the UK indicates that homeowners here want this level of protection as well. With these regulations, it is also easy to forget about the importance of making sure that effective smoke alarms are fitted in existing housing - and working properly.
Recent statistics have highlighted the problems of ineffective or an absence of alarms:
As a result, action is being taken to deal with the existing housing stock where almost one fifth of properties are currently unalarmed, and many of those that are have out of date alarms. The majority of these are in areas of social deprivation and rented housing. Many alarms were installed after the Kings Cross fire tragedy and do not enjoy important features available on some modern alarms. They have also, of course, exceeded their 10 year service life today. Older alarms are often badly located and poorly maintained, and either do not function or are subject to frequent nuisance alarms - and they are also generally battery-only powered. Tenant abuse, such as battery removal, is an area of growing concern, leading to alarms that don't function in a fire: 42% of alarm failures in 1999 were due to missing batteries. To counter this, hard wired, mains alarms are growing in popularity. The case for hard wired alarms extends beyond the mandatory requirements for new build housing. Statistics reveal that 45% of battery only powered alarms fail to operate in a fire. While mains alarms may cost more, they do offer better performance and require a professional electrician to install them. Some mains alarms can be locked on their mounting bases and can incorporate sealed-in lithium batteries for secondary power, which eliminates the need for battery changing during the recommended 10 year life of the alarm, sometimes offered with a 10 year guarantee on both battery and alarm.
To be effective, alarms must also be user-friendly with feature's such as twin LED s which show the alarm's current state and separate buttons for 'test' and 'hush' to reduce nuisance alarms. Kidde's unique de-activation feature is particularly useful in social housing. BS 5446 requires that alarms with batteries, whether AC or DC, "chirp" once every minute for at least 30 days when the battery needs changing. For sealed models at the end of their life they can be silenced permanently with this feature, allowing alarms to stay in place until replaced by the landlord and disposed of without unnecessary sound emissions. Recent research on smoke alarms has indicated dissatisfaction amongst users and installers with some manuals which come with products, including small type and a lack of illustrations. Some leading manufacturers have already addressed this with separate manuals for installers and householders with each alarm, so householders only see information relevant to them - including a cut-out page for affixing near the consumer unit which provides useful tips as to what to do in a fire.
It is important to consider a number of criteria with smoke alarms to avoid them apparently triggering for no reason and being disabled by tenants, putting lives at risk. Selecting the right type of alarm is crucial - ionisation, optical or heat - and guidance can be found in the Code of Practice BS5839, Part 6, or from manufacturers. Generally, ionisation alarms are best for fast flaming fires while opticals (or photo-electrics) suit slow smouldering fires. Alarm manufacturers also provide guidance on selecting the right alarm for the job and best locations: for example, Kidde products use distinctive, colour coded packaging which clearly identifies each alarm type. Incorrect siting can result in frequent nuisance alarms or failure to function while proper installation is important and manufacturer's guidelines should be adhered to or the Code of Practice consulted. But is one alarm enough? Hard wired alarms are interconnectable, allowing warnings throughout a property, with little additional cost, particularly as part of general rewiring. There are calls for smoke alarms in all sleeping areas following a number of domestic fire deaths last year. Young people today spend a lot of time in their bedrooms using electrical equipment which increases fire risk and research has shown that they will react more readily to an alarm within the room. Finally, more attention is needed with maintenance. Tenants should be encouraged to vacuum around their alarms to reduce damaging dust ingress. Social housing landlords may have a legal liability for alarms in their properties and many arrange for an annual check of smoke.
In England and Wales, recent Regulations address false alarm problems in kitchens with heat alarms. This will not apply in Scotland until publication of a British Standard for Heat Alarms although heat alarms are an essential measure, as over half of domestic fires start from cooking appliances. Heat alarms must be both compatible and interlinked with the smoke alarms elsewhere in the property and must not be used in isolation. Heat alarms are also suitable for unoccupied attic spaces, boiler rooms and garages where smoke alarms may be inappropriate. It is important to remember that no one type of alarm is perfect for all types of fire. So an ideal minimum provision for a two storey house would be 1 ionisation type upstairs, 1 optical type downstairs and a heat alarm in the kitchen.
For smoke and heat alarms, product quality is critical and the recent appearance of non-kitemarked smoke alarms offered by some distributors is a cause of real concern. Kidde Fyrnetics' latest optical smoke alarms were the first to be awarded the BSi 'Kitemark' under the new BS 5446 Part 1:2000 Standard, complementing the already kitemarked ionisation range. The benefits of kitemarking go further than satisfying regulations, as 80% of the British public recognise it as a symbol of quality and safety, adding real value to kitemarked products and giving peace of mind.
In parallel with development to smoke and heat alarms, there are growing concerns about the deaths and illness which still occur in homes from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, focusing attention on the need for widespread installation of CO alarms. This is the subject of a current leaflet and poster campaign by Scottish Gas aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of CO poisoning. While it is officially recognised that about 30 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning in British homes every year, others estimate that up to 125,000 families are affected annually. In essence, CO prevents the uptake of oxygen into the blood, resulting in headaches, nausea, unconsciousness - and finally death. Surviving victims may well be left permanently unwell and disabled through neurological damage.
CO can be produced by any fuel burning appliances but gas heaters and boilers are generally regarded as the main culprits. Problems result from poor or no maintenance, blocked air vents or flues and sub-standard fittings. Things are being made worse by installation of secondary double glazing and the sealing up of buildings for energy conservation, reducing scope for air intake, as well as the trend for people today to spend more time at home than in the past. Both public and private landlords are finding that, if their properties have unsafe appliances, they face substantial damages when things go wrong as well as prosecution under Health and Safety legislation. While nothing can replace an effective maintenance programme, there is a compelling case to make use of CO alarms to provide an early warning before real danger occurs and to give tenants reassurance. They provide an audible alarm at exposure levels well below those critical to healthy adults. CO alarms should be located according to BS7860, generally one in each applianced room and at least 1.5m from the gas appliance. Kidde currently offer CO alarms with DC battery or AC mains plug-in power but will shortly be launching new hard wired CO alarms designed specifically for the UK market.
These latest developments offer major opportunities for electrical contractors to include installation of up to date, hard wired heat and smoke alarms - as well as carbon monoxide alarms - in their rewiring quotations for housing.