Recommended Locations For Alarms - Kidde RF-SM-DC User Manual

CONTENTS OF THIS USER'S GUIDE
1 RECOMMENDED LOCATIONS FOR SMOKE ALARMS
2 LOCATIONS TO AVOID
3 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
4 OPERATION AND TESTING
5 NUISANCE ALARMS
6 MAINTENANCE
7 LIMITATIONS OF SMOKE ALARMS
8 GOOD SAFETY HABITS
9 NRC INFORMATION
10 NFPA PROTECTION STANDARD 72
11 CALIFORNIA STATE FIRE MARSHAL REQUIRED INFORMATION
12 TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE
13 SERVICE AND WARRANTY

1. RECOMMENDED LOCATIONS FOR ALARMS

• Locate the first alarm in the immediate area of the bedrooms. Try to monitor the exit
path as the bedrooms are usually farthest from the exit. If more than one sleeping area
exists, locate additional alarms in each sleeping area.
• Locate additional alarms to monitor any stairway as they act as chimneys for smoke and
heat.
• Locate at least one alarm on every floor.
• Locate an alarm in every bedroom.
• Locate an alarm in every room where electrical appliances operate (i.e. portable heaters
or humidifiers).
• Locate an alarm in every room where someone sleeps with the door closed. The closed
door may prevent a sleeping individual from hearing an alarm that is not inside the bed-
room. Kidde recommends installing a Wireless Smoke Sounder in all rooms where older
adults, individuals with partial hearing loss, and children sleep.
• Smoke, heat, and combustion products rise to the ceiling and spread horizontally.
Mounting the smoke alarm in the center of the ceiling places it closest to all points in the
room. Ceiling mounting is preferred in ordinary residential construction.
• For mobile home installation, select locations carefully to avoid thermal barriers that may
form at the ceiling. For more details, see MOBILE HOME INSTALLATION below.
• When mounting an alarm on the ceiling, locate it at a minimum of 4" (10 cm) from the
sidewall (see Figure 1).
• When mounting the alarm on the wall, use an inside wall with the top edge of the alarm
at a minimum of 4" (10 cm) and a maximum of 12" (30.5 cm) below the ceiling (see
Figure 1).
• Put smoke alarms at both ends of a bedroom hallway or large room if the hallway or
room is more than 30 feet (9.1 m) long.
• Install Smoke Alarms on sloped, peaked or cathedral ceilings at or within 3ft (0.9m) of the
highest point (measured horizontally). NFPA 72 states: "Smoke alarms in rooms with ceil-
ing slopes greater than 1 foot in 8 feet (.3m in 2.4 m) horizontally shall be located on the
high side of the room." NFPA 72 states: "A row of detectors shall be spaced and located
within 3 ft (0.9m) of the peak of the ceiling measured horizontally" (see Figure 3).