to think that smoke alarms..

[igggi]

..need to go on the wall, not just on a table?
I don't think they can work as well at waist-height, but am having trouble explaining this to dh.

because like my parents, they are idiots. My parents had smoke alarms but took the batteries out because they kept going off when cooking.

I nearly lost my life because of a bloody battery

Oh we'd never had a fire til December when an electrical item that was plugged in randomly caught fire - 5 years old, never had a problem before! No rhyme or reason for it.

Eclectic I have no idea. Maybe fires won't happen to them?

Re kids - we don't have any yet so wasn't an issue for us with the fire- but I still think getting the fire brigade in for advice would get you wise advice.

i have told my children where to go by the BT pole just outside the garden.

I can't wait to remove DD safty gate for this reason only

Jeepers McHappy! Our neighbours were like that - I went round to tell them about the fire, the smoke detector was hanging down (despite it being two weeks since two fire engines came to our house!). They then said they never shut their living room door and the only thing between the kitchen and living room was an archway. I suggested that got it sorted quick smart. People just don't get it.

That has always been my plan Ooga, not 'official' in any way. Seemed to work on the day it mattered though!

I religiously practice with them every few months, especially when I know they are engrossed in something, and then go over how it went very thoroughly. There is of course a fine balance between motivating their survival instincts and scaring the living shit out of them!

I also always make sure they know the ways out of a building we are in for any length of time as well (hotels etc) as it would be a bugger to die on holiday...

The debriefs and information can be made fun - 'who can find the fastest way to reception' etc.

It does sound like a good way to do it though, even if it isn't official! I suppose even when thinking of the worst case scenario (there's a fire) I still think of it in best-case terms (the alarm will go off, there will not be too much smoke, there will time to grab the children and I'll be concious), you know? Planning it out with them sounds sensible.

Bugger, I'm going to get our sticky front door fixed asap. Threads like this always freak me out a little.

I've read that you can now get smoke detectors that you put on normal light fittings (goes between the bulb & the the bayonet fitting). Don't know anything about their reliability, but should be quite easy to sneak into your PIL's house!

some people don't like the look of smoke alarms as they ruin the decour.

Oh Shelby I like your cunning - will research.
Reading all the replies makes me feel I am not just paranoid, and even though with the alarms on tables we must be safer than we were before I realised they didn't have one (you don't think to check do you? You just think in this century everywhere would be alarmed).
I always remember one of those public safety tv ads with a couple singing a song about their 'bedtime routine' - "check and make sure you close every door, we mean your life could depend on your bedtime routine lalala". I am impressionable!

Argh having sold myself on the Fire Angel Plug-in idea, I cannot find them for sale anywhere online - I wonder have they been discontinued?

why dont you just pick up a screwdriver and stick them up yourself?

Ask them to check their house insurance - they may get a discount if they have a smoke alarm fitted.

Smoke alarms? What are they? I don´t know anyone who has one.
The only ones I have ever seen have been in hotels and I assumed this was to stop people smoking in non-smoking rooms.
But frankly, wherever you site a smoke alarm, it is probably too late anyway, once it goes off.

^ E320 please tell me that's sarcasm?! Too late for what? To deal with the fire yourself, possibly. To get out the house and call the fire brigade - hell no. See my above post. The firemen told us - our smoke alarms saved our lives. Smoke is toxic. If you inhale even a small amount it can leave you unconscious and unable to do anything. That must be a joke post, right?!

E320 have you read any of the previous posts about smoke alarms saving lives?

We have them here, I don't understand why people wouldn't. OP you have my sympathy for this battle with your PIL.

E320 They have to be fitted in every new house (since 1992?) and could save your life for a few pounds. We've had the fire brigade out for a neighbour who tried to set fire to his flat by cooking drunk and passing out.

Fortunately in this house they have only worked as burnt toast detectors: but these days they usually have a button to press if you know that the smoke is safe (aside from brekkie being ruined) so there's no need to take the batteries out.

E320 they also are not too late by the time they go off. Okay most of the time it is just burnt toast that sets them off.
But when it's hot oil that has been forgotten about, it isn't very far from a fire starting.
People on low income can get them for a reduced amount or free from the fire brigade or their local council. (Not that they are expensive anyway.)

igggi there's some here www.livingmadeeasy.org.uk/telecare/smoke-detectors-p/fireangel-plug_in-10-year-life-smoke-alarm-0105036-1379-information.htm

Wilf has a special deaf smoke alarm which the fire brigade came and fitted! It is fitted on the landing and one downstairs and if it goes off when Wilf is in bed then a pad will vibrate under the pillow!

We had the plug-into-the-light-fitting ones in a previous house but I wouldn't recommend them. The "test" mechanism is to switch the light on then off again - which it responds to with nine long beeps to say it is working. It's really loud and would go off on its test pattern on a regular basis - when you just wanted to pop into a room to find something then pop out again, when the electricity supply was interupted for a second. They were a right pain.

Not that this needs adding as it has already been said, but yes they absolutely must be on the ceiling. Smoke rises - if they are on the ceiling they will go off while there is still time to escape. On the table, then they won't go off till it is too late.

The previous owners of my house had an ingenious idea - having the alarm on the ceiling is a pain as it's not easy to get to them if they need a new battery or you need to reset them after a false alarm. Ours is installed on the underside of a hinged loft-access-hatch. If we need to get to it, we can just open the hatch (using a pole to operate the catch) and the alarm ends up at head-height - no climbing required!

If this is the reason they don't want it on the ceiling, and they have a loft access hatch, you could show them how easy it could be!

Look guys, it's a no brainer. Stick a small inoffensive looking smoke alarm to the ceiling in your hallway, downstairs and another upstairs. In the event of a fire, together with a plan to get out safely, will almost certainly save your life and that of your children.
Scenario 1. So you are upstairs asleep in bed. You wake up (hopefully) to a smell of smoke. You go into the hallway, more smoke. Downstairs is already alight, your exit may be blocked. You have to find your kids. They may already be unconscious from the smoke.. You have to get them downstairs and out the door which is locked. Where are your keys? Oh shit they are in your handbag that's in the kitchen which is on fire. The lights are all fused, it's pitch black and smoky. You are coughing and struggling to breathe. Oh dear. I think you and your family just became a statistic.
Scenario 2. You wake up to the sound of the smoke alarm going off. It scares the holy hell out of you! You get up, go to your kids who are also awake, shepherd everyone downstairs to the exit. Yes it's smoky but because you shut all the doors it's not too bad, just coming under the door. You open the exit with the keys you left in a hidden but easy to reach place near the door. And you escape. Your house may be damaged by the time the fire brigade arrives, but you are all out ALIVE.
Please please get a smoke alarm, fit it and check it regularly. Have an escape plan, go through it regularly with your kids and anyone else in the house. Practise it. Put your keys somewhere you can find them quickly and near the door. Close all the doors in your house every night before you sleep. It will buy you time to get out safely.

call the fire brigade - they come out and fit them and also check your house as to fire risk - job done.

I have two fire alarms - one in the hall ceiling and one on the landing ceiling

E320 - are you my mother-in-law?

Thanks for link wonkeylegs.

Just wondering, could I literally stick them to the ceiling? With some super strong stickt stuff! I think they have an old person's dislike of "disruption" and yes, a fear of spoiling the wallpaper

It is interesting to me how many are saying they must be on ceiling - all mine (in my own house) are high up on the walls, which was in line with the installation instructions that came with each smoke alarm.

Our next visit is supposed to be next week. I will either a) refuse to go, or b) leave to stay in hotel if they argue when I say they need to go on the wall (or c) don't get up the nerve to ask and just moan on mumsnet instead).

I think you can stick them up with no more nails or similar strong adhesive, I was given a special smoke alarm by my local council who come out to houses with young children and do a safety check, it was great I got loads of free stuff like child locks, tap guards and even a free stair gate and the smoke alarm they gave me was a self contained unit with a guaranteed battery life of ten years, you dont screw them onto the ceiling you have to stick them on.

I have an weekly alarm set on my phone to remind me to test my smoke alarms.