Fire alarms keep going off in an unusually warm room

[Thismightbeouting]

I want to put a fire alarm in my daughter's room. However! They go off for not reason! Properly go off, not the beeping because it needs new batteries. We've just taken another one down because it kept going off. Why?

This is the third brand new alarm we've tried and the second time we've tried one from another room. They all work in other rooms. We've done the waving a match under them.

They go off in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. They'll also go off in the middle of the day when I'm at home alone with the door open. I've just realised that we've never come home to them going off though.

They are normal fire alarms, not carbon monoxide detectors. Plus there is nothing that would cause that in her room.

She/we don't smoke/vape. I would smell it. Plus they go off when I'm alone or we've all been downstairs for hours.

No candles or steamer things.

Various different places on her ceiling.

Different brands.

Nothing outside.

Nothing that would give off heat or smoke.

No evidence of pests (no idea what they wood do anyway)

The fire alarm just outside her bedroom door is fine.

Her room is always inexplicable warm even without radiators. Not hot but it's consistently warmer than the rest of the house. 2 of her walls are external walls, one is made of plaster board and wood with an empty space above the stairs next to it and the other is a thick wall next to our bedroom. Shes north facing. There are no pipes under her room. Her room is above the dining room so no heat from there. It's the same size as our room.

We've had to pull the dining room ceiling down in the past so we know there is nothing under her floor. We also built the plaster board wall so again, know there is nothing in there. We also had the attic boarded so we know there is nothing in the ceiling.

Any ideas? The warm room is good if inexplicable. The fire alarm is an absolute pain.

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but if there is one just outside her door - does one inside the room really need to be installed? Especially if it's seemingly prone to error?

What sort of alarms are you getting? I wonder if they're the heat ones rather than smoke detecting ones?

She sleeps with her door closed and I'm very paranoid about fires. There isn't an easy egress from her room if the fire is by her door. You're probably right about it being excessive but it makes me feel more confortable.

Definitely smoke not heat. Plus when I say her room is warm, it isn't excessively so. We keep our house at 17/18. Her room is about 19/20 even with the door open.

Hmmm that's odd that they're going off in that room only! Is there anything that could be causing electromagnetic interference? The smoke ones normally work on that basis I think, so when smoke disrupts the field, the alarm sounds. Anything in her room that could be causing this at all?

Don't put a fire/smoke alarm in her room.

Simple

There's one outside the door and the door isn't a hermetic seal, the smoke will set the one off outside her door quickly. What difference does it make in her room? Most houses either only have one downstairs or, as should be, one upstairs and one down

Getting help for your anxiety would be better

Are there pipes running through between the attic and her ceiling that get hot enough to trigger it? Although you say they are smoke detectors, not heat ones, most do both.

Have you tried taking it down and just sitting a battery one on top of the wardrobe or somewhere? That would at least rule out a wiring problem.

Do we know WHY her room is so warm? Airing cupboard? Hot water tank above it or in it?

And a happy day to you too.

I could either spend hundreds of pounds/use up NHS resouces/spend my own precious time dealing with my "anxiety" which may or may not work. Or... I could take the perfectly reasonable step of just putting a fire alarm up and be happy.

The "simple" solution is obviously the later.

We have no idea why her room is so warm! It's an absolute mystery that we wish we could replicate in the rest of the house. 🤣

Nothing in the attic. We had it boarded a few years back so we know that for certain.

Our bathroom is downstairs so there are no pipes etc upstairs apart from the ones to the radiators. In her case, they run a couple of feet next to the wall and that's it.

No

If you have an anxiety so bad you need to put a smoke alarm in a room that has one just outside the door then it's a problem that is actively affecting your day to day life

It's something you need help with

Have you checked the electrics? Surely she has plugs in her room?

And the overhead light, there must be a cable in the loft running to that?

🤣 no wonder so many people claim "anxiety" when someone on the internet diagnoses it based on such things as someone wanting a fire alarm up.

Yes, I'm paranoid about fires but exactly how does that mean I need to "get help"? Do you think that every room in my house has a fire alarm and I set my day up around checking for fires? Do you imagine I spend my nights worrying about them?

For info, I have one alarm downstairs and one upstairs. I'd like one in her room because she sleeps with her door shut. We test the alarms when we remember. I did look into getting on of those rope ladder things in case we need to go out a window but decided that was unnecessary. Same with fire extinguishers. I do think we should get a fire blanket for the kitchen every time my husband sets the oven gloves on fire. I've not bothered getting one though and probably wont. So in other words, I've looked at various things and decided they would be silly or I just haven't got round to it, and possibly never will.

Does any of that sound like someone who needs therapy for their anxiety or an unhealthy obsession?

I double check my front door is locked too and check what day the bins are collected each week because I dont want to miss them. I must get therapy for that.

Everyone in my house sleeps with the door shut. Isn't that normal?

Odd that the alarm goes off in her room but no where else. Are you sure she's not vaping?

Vaping.
Smoking.
Hairspray.
Deodorant spray.
Perfume.
Candles.
Steam from bathroom.
Spiders.
Temperature of room getting above operating range of smoke alarm.
Smoke alarm being out of date despite being newly bought or having new batteries in.

I am also a bit paranoid about fire after an experience as a youngster and we do have an escape ladder upstairs. I don’t want to alarm you but do you realise that sleeping with the bedroom door closed is actually much safer in the event of a fire?

Yes it is. I've no issues with how she wants her door when she sleeps.

We sleep with ours open because otherwise the cat scrapes and meows at it until we let her in. Then 30mins later she'll scrape and meow at it until we let her back out. I'd rather sleep than get up and down to deal with a door and a cat. 🤣

Absolutely certain. Plus it will go off when I'm in the house alone or we're all downstairs.

Thinking a room with a closed door needs a smoke alarm despite there being one just outside the door (which won't be air tight and will let the smoke out) is a bit obsessive and paranoid yes

Does any of that sound like someone who needs therapy for their anxiety or an unhealthy obsession?

A bit, yes.

Please give it a rest. You seem to be thinking about it more than I do!

FYI she's not had an alarm in there since probably the beginning of the year and do you know what? No one's life has ground to a halt and I'm still able to perfectly function.

Funnily enough, I only posted today because our downstairs one started beeping (needed new batteries) and it reminded me to see if I can figure out what is going on.

So yes, I agree all of this sounds like anxiety and that I desperately need help. Sarcasm.

I think the smoke alarms are sensing something - I wondered if you have had the electrics checked recently? Cables running hot can indicate an issue or possibly an overload. Are the light switches or sockets warm to the touch? Might be worth having an electrician out to check?

Why? Genuinely why?

I've considered various safety points and decided they are unnecessary or I've just not done it. It's just normal common sense to look at what what things you need to keep you and your family safe and then decide whether you need them.

There has been no fire alarm in there for months and I'm fine. It's literally taking up no headspace. It's just something I would like. It would make me feel better but if we can't then we can't.

Now, if I was actively worrying about it then maybe people could claim anxiety.

Tbh though people on here shout "you need help for your anxiety" whenever anybody says they are vaguely worried about something that they aren't.

Lots of people are paranoid about losing their phone so have routines and checks in place and do actually panic if it's not in the normal place. It impacts on their day to day life and their thoughts. No one claims they have anxiety. That's considered "normal".

Why? Genuinely why?

Because there is a fire alarm outside her bedroom door which is sufficient to give you a perfectly adequate level of domestic fire safety.

What lights do you have?

I once left a SAD light on the landing under the smoke alarm (as it was also my alarm clock and I didn’t know what room I’d be in), and it set off the alarm when it came on in the morning,

When I had loft done I had to have one in every room. Some are two - three foot away from each other. Apparently it's because when the smoke rises it takes time to build up low enough to get down to the doorframe and go under it into the next room to be picked up by that smoke detector.

I don’t know if it makes you feel better, but I once set a lampshade on fire with a candle. The smoke detector was two rooms over and alerted me to this before there was any visibly detectable smoke (and it took me 30 seconds to a minute to get to the scene after the smoke detector sounded). I think outside her room is probably sensitive enough if you have a good enough smoke detector (we have Nest Protect), I honestly don’t think one in her room would buy you that much more time that it would make a difference to the outcome. You could maybe test it by burning paper in her room and seeing how quickly the hallway detector went off.

But I don’t have an answer to your actual problem!

ETA: for context, we have 4 smoke alarms - one in the room with our bioethanol fireplace, one on our landing, one in the room with our tumble dryer and one in the loft with our solar panel batteries, so I do get the want to have one in and around what you see as a risk area!

Why does your husband keep setting the oven gloves on fire?