New Florida Smoke Alarm Law Will Help Save Lives

Did you know that someone dies in a U.S. home fire every three hours? And most of those deaths occur in homes without a smoke alarm or with one that isn't working. Scary to think about.

Kidde is one manufacturer of smoke alarms with 10-year batteries. As of January 2015, a new law went into effect for Florida families whose homes have battery-powered smoke alarms. The law aims to reduce home fire deaths and decrease the likelihood that a firefighter would be injured or killed trying to save a life. Florida now requires that homeowners replace any battery-operated smoke alarm more than 10 years old with a unit powered by a 10-year sealed-in battery (that makes the alarm tamper resistant and removes the burden of changing batteries every six months, which people typically fail to do anyway).

Last year, more than 100 Floridians died in home fires and in nearly half of those fires, smoke alarms weren't present or weren't working. Also, industry data from Kidde Fire Safety, the world’s largest manufacturer of fire safety products, found that nearly a quarter of U.S. homeowners with homes built before 2000 have outdated alarms.

When we moved down to Florida, we didn't know about this law nor did we think to replace our home's smoke alarm units with newer technology. In fact, we weren't even sure if our house's alarms detected carbon monoxide or not. :(

Then... one late night the alarm in our bedroom above our bed went off (too hot in there I guess, lol) scaring the hell out of us. Fortunately, there was no emergency and it didn't wake our boys either, but it definitely ruined our sleep. We of course changed the batteries, but it went off again the following week for no apparent reason. We then realized, we had no idea how old the unit was since we weren't the ones who originally installed it. I was also worried that this might happen to the alarm in our boys bedroom.

We have since installed a Kidde Worry-Free Kitchen alarm with a sealed-battery (available at various retailers, including The Home Depot and Amazon), which complies with the new code changes. It also detects carbon monoxide and is photoelectric sensing, which may detect visible fire particles (associated with slow smoldering fires) sooner than typical ionization alarms. Plus, now we are set for a decade!
Worry-free alarm by Kidde with 10 year battery 
Even if you live in another state you might want to upgrade to a worry-free alarm too. Also, just because you might have a hard wired emergency system a back-up battery powered one is also good to have since they still work during power outages.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but sponsored or not, I only share stuff I am passionate about. Truly.

4 comments

  1. I have Carbon Monoxide Detectors and smoke alarms in every room of the house! It is so sad that so many people die each year from fires. They need to make sure to check and have properly working smoke detectors. The Fireman in our town will install smoke detectors in homes without them for free!! Great service!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just recently informed my dad about this after hearing about it about a month ago.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We updated all are smoke detectors last year, very important to keep them up to date and working, always important to have a plan for the family in case of a fire.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd like to upgrade to these alarms in our household. Can't ever be too safe!

    ReplyDelete