How Many Smoke Detectors Do You Need in Your Home?

smoke detector red lights

How Many Smoke Detectors Do You Need in Your Home?

Smoke detectors are one of the most important devices to have in your home. They are there for your safety and can save lives during house fires. Since fire can spread throughout your home fairly quickly, you should have multiple fire detectors throughout your rooms! Depending on the overall size of your home, here is a guideline to discovering how many you need:

Where Your Smoke Detectors Should Be

According to The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there are a few suggested places you should have a smoke detector:

  • Inside every sleeping room

  • Outside every sleeping area

  • Within every level of your home

Most homes don’t meet these requirements these days! Check to see if you have an alarm in each bedroom, in the hallway of those bedrooms, and on each floor of your house. This also includes your basement!

Match the number of detectors to the size of your home in order to ensure you and your family are safe. For floors that don’t have any bedrooms, you can keep the device in your living room or den. And, of course, you should have one in your kitchen but not one that is overly sensitive.

Where Not to Place Them

Try to keep the detectors away from windows and doorways, that way the wind won’t affect its ability to sense smoke. If you are unsure of how to go about it, check out this guide to the correct placement of smoke alarms.

Smoke detectors are made to protect you from fires within the home. Make sure you know how many you need and where exactly they should be placed. The more accurately you follow these guidelines, the faster you can prepare yourself for any potentially dangerous house fires.

For help keeping your home safe, contact the experts at Wahl Family Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing.