A smoke alarm can save your life. You can get one for under £5 from a DIY, electrical or hardware shop. Alternatively, if you request a home fire safety check our firefighters will install one for free if you don't have one already.
Make sure that you test your smoke alarms and smoke alarm batteries every week. Around 80% of homes now have a smoke alarm, but there's no point in having one if it doesn't work.
Follow our simple tips for buying and fitting a smoke alarm:
- Buy a smoke alarm that complies with the British Standard or equivalent international standard.
- Follow the manufacturers' instructions to fit it.
- Fit the alarm between the living areas and the bedrooms. Ideally, you should fit one in every room except the kitchen and bathroom.
- Make sure you can hear it throughout your home, especially in the bedrooms.
- Test your smoke alarm each week by using the test button.
- Change the battery every year or when you need to.
- At the same time, use your vacuum cleaner to get rid of any dust inside it.
- Replace the battery in your smoke alarm if the low battery warning sounds (an intermittent bleep) - replace the battery with a new one as soon as you can.