Smoke Alarms

[seeandess]

Does anyone know if these can be hung on the walll or do they have to be on the ceiling?

[Lonnie]

They can be put on both the ceiling and wall, just don't put it too close to the kitchen, these things always seem to go off when you burn the toast.

[qapmoc]

The reason smoke detectors are usually placed on the ceiling is that fire products i.e smoke etc... are warmer than the surrounding air and therefore rise up to the ceiling and spread out, so a smoke detector on the ceiling will give you the earliest alarm and therefore give you the most time to react/escape. If you do place one on the wall then make sure that it is a place where smoke would actually pass the detector as it rises.

[buildersmate]

You can solve the 'false alarm' problem from the burned toast by fitting a 'heat alarm' rather than an 'ionisation smoke alarm'. All the major manufacturers make both and they look very similar - the heat type are about 2x the price. They work not by the fumes, but by the heat. I can burn toast as much as I want now.

[gazzawazza]

I fit these every day and we always fit them on the ceiling. The reason being that depending on air currents caused in fires smoke can actually rise past wall-fitted ones without actuating the alarm. See my answer in the link below. http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Home-and-Garden/Question7 7791.html