Why has my smoke alarm gone off?

[llamalines]

My smoke alarm just went off!

Properly, not that thing it does when the battery runs low.

But there's no fire!

I feel worried to go back to sleep now, in case I'm missing something! But if there's no fire, there's no fire - right?

I'm now worrying that maybe it's a combined carbon monoxide alarm and I didn't realise. But if it was, and it was detecting carbon monoxide, would it go off again, even though I pressed the button?

Can I go back to sleep, basically! (Please, I'm shattered!!)

I wouldn't ignore it. It's raising the alarm about something

When you say "I wouldn't ignore it" what do you mean?

I got out of bed, turned it off and checked the house. Nothing out of the ordinary.

What now?

Is it old. Sometimes the older (more than 10 years) ones can just get tired and alarm. Have you tried pulling out the battery and/or the clip attachment if it's hardwired and plugging it back in. Humidity can also set them off.

I can't remember when we bought it so I guess it must be quite old!

Probably 11 years old (when we bought the house). Is that old for a fire alarm?

It's not humid here.

Buy a new one tomorrow. Don't sleep if you think it might be a dual alarm don't risk carbon monoxide

I found this article. Apparently dust can set it off.

It must be dusty, I can't reach it to clean it.

https://www.puroclean.com/blog/top-10-reasons-your-smoke-alarm-goes-off-randomly/

I'm not sure.

Wouldn't it go off again if it was still detecting carbon monoxide though?

Yes, thats quite old. I think they're supposed to be replaced every ten years or so, or at least checked.
In Scotland we were all supposed to get interlinked alarms and they could be wired in or battery - we were advised that the battery ones should last appriox 10 years, which is the time we're supposed to check/replace. If you have a CO alarm then it might be worth making an appointment to get any gas appliances or log burners etc checked over.

I'm going back to sleep, I'm sure it's fine. If it's actually detecting something it'll go off again, no need to stay awake.

Thanks for being here everyone.

Do you have a dehumidifier within 10ft. Mine always sets off my fire alarm.

or is it very humid in your house? Some Fire alarms are unable to tell the difference between water vapours and smoke.

It's gone off again!

I've taken it off the ceiling, it's not a carbon monoxide one, only fire.

It can't be that old after all, it says replace by 2029 on the back.

No dehumidifier and it's not humid.

DP vape s, but not now, he's asleep.

The potential of it also being a carbon monoxide aside ( you said it isn't ) then it is most likely due to dust .
We are having work done in our house including drilling and the dust set it off . We've also had it randomly go off , and again a Hoover with a brush attachment did the trick.

It could be dust or a tiny insect, spider etc

Hoover it.....with the brush attachment. No need to take it apart.

That's always worked for me.

Snap, @IIclyn 🤣

I would ventilate the house by opening a few windows.

Something is getting between the radiation and the detector sensor so it could be -
If it is outside the bathroom or kitchen it could be some water vapour in the air.
Could be dust.
Could be a spider
Candle smoke

I would check all electrical sockets making sure there are no dodgy smells or damaged wires particularly if you are charging something like a phone as it can be a slow burn.
Chances are it's given up the ghost and you just need a new one.

Do not take it apart to have a look, the casing protects you from the alpha radiation.

I've had a smoke alarm go off for no reason.
After fully checking everything was OK and there wasn't a fire, I just replaced the alarm.
I suspect mine was a combination of it being a bit old and/ or an insect getting inside it. Had no problems with new one.
I also have alarms throughout my house and was reassured the others weren't going off too when it happened.

It's probably a ghost 😉

It usually is.

😉😁😁

Same ghost that turned one of my storage heaters up from 19 to 21 the other night.....👻👻👻