Domestic smoke detectors are too loud.

[Fordian]

I've thought about this before but today, we had an incident that did require people to evacuate an area.

I'm quite good in a crisis, I can think quickly, organise, but bloody hell, I couldn't hear myself think, let alone be heard. The kids were screaming and covering their ears, it was bedlam. I ended up bundling a couple out the door because they couldn't hear my 'Get down, low and go!' They all know it, we rehearse it, but to them the smoky ceiling itself was screaming at them.

I absolutely 'get' issues with deaf people, but a big flashing red light or a wildly vibrating thing under their pillow might be better than the people who might be able to come and save them being so deafened they want to get OUT.

WDYT?

Well if you were in a deep sleep you'd want it to be loud to wake you up. Also it's good in a way that the noise alerts neighbours.

Quieter smoke alarms? What could go wrong? 🙄

It’s supposed to be so loud that you can’t sleep through it or ignore it. Our work one is so loud it really does force you out if the building. Turning it down would really defeat the entire point.

Walk us through your thought processes that led to you arriving at this conclusion - and how you validated said conclusion...

My thought processes:

1. it was so loud people were panicking
2. I couldn't hear myself think
3. no one, kids could hear instructions, they had their fingers in their ears, 2 sitting down against the wall heads down, the two I scooped out the door.

There's noise, and noise. It's to do with decibels. I believe today's hindered our evacuation. I still have tinnitus, 10 hours later.

This is why you practice, with the alarm going off. Just like schools and offices etc.

It has to be loud, if nothing else have you ever been near a fully fledged big fire? It is loud. Plus if it's a smaller smokey fire you want your neighbours to hear it if you're overcome with smoke.

Most young children, especially boys, can sleep through VERY loud noises. So you have tinnitus, so what, you could die if you don't wake up from a fire. I woke up from a housefire as a kid and alarms saved my life.

I'm so sorry you seem to have had a fire in your house.
That must be horrific.

Maybe it is the shock from that that is affecting your thinking?

Obviously smoke alarms need to be loud to ensure they wake people who are asleep.

People will ignore smoke alarms if they're not distressingly loud. They are designed to be so horrible that you want to remove yourself from the area as otherwise (in my experience) there is a huge amount of apathy displayed, particularly if there are no obvious signs of fire.

We used to have the air raid sirens as fire alarms at school.
I can assure you that they were louder than any domestic fire alarm I've ever heard and worked brilliantly - no one wanted to stay in so exit was swift.

When you say smoke alarms I assume you mean fire alarms - the ones that tell you to get out (not the one that keep when you burn the toast).

You want fire alarms to be quieter? Really?

If a smoke alarm is loud enough to cause tinnitus the it's too loud. Our smoke alarm is wired in and loud, but isn't loud enough to do that, and it's not necessary. I would contact the manufacturer about that.