To think you should be able to actually hear the fire alarm?

[TazzaRazza]

This morning DS got up and made himself toast or rather set the toast on fire. The smoke alarm went off in the dining room but was so faint we couldn't hear it at all from upstairs. Even after he came in the bedroom to tell us it wasn't the sound but rather the smell of smoke that made us rush downstairs. It honestly sounded no louder than a fridge beeping that's been left open. The smoke alarms are not connected together and it's quite a big spread out 5 bed house. Surely this isn't a safe set-up?

Of course you should be able to hear the alarm. However I am amazed that it took an actual fire for you to realise you couldn't hear it, do you not test them regularly?? It could be that the batteries need replacing but if not then you need to replace the alarms ASAP.

Sorry - should have said - it's a rental. The agency says they are compliant. I'm not sure legally I can replace the smoke alarms? Maybe add more?

Ours is super loud - you can hear it anywhere in the house! Ours are hardwired into electrics though, are yours just battery operated? Maybe running low?

Ah cross post. If it's a rental they should be wired in so can't be battery. Weird! Maybe broken speaker.

The regulations do not stipulate the type of alarms (such as hard wired or battery powered) to be installed in rental properties. Landlords should make an informed decision and choose the best alarms for their properties and tenants.

OP get in touch with local fire service—they can give free advice on a better setup.

Ah must be different in England. In Scotland, alarms fitted now in rental properties must be mains powered.

You should still check the fire alarms yourself...

As harsh as it sounds, your landlord will have insurance so it's not the end of the world for him if the house was to burn down...

Only multiple occupancy is required to have mains wired fire alarm in England, think its different in Wales though.

You should def be able to hear it though, check if it has a volume setting. If your landlord wont play ball consider putting some additonal ones in, they just stick to the ceiling.

In our rental, I watched the landlord test the smoke detector and told him it was too quiet. He said it was fine.
We had a fire and the carbon monoxide detector was what alerted us, despite being in the same room as the "fine" smoke detector.
When I called the landlord to tell him about the fire, the fire officer took my phone and ripped him a new one.