Fire Alarm Sensitivity

[ReneeG]

Couple of things on the sensitivity of fire alarms. I know they are made to detect the slightest smoke, even before we see it, but ours often goes off when I make muffins and a slight drip of the batter on the pan burns. DH stands up by it fanning it with a pot holder and that stops it. How many of you have to do this too? My poor Mica, goes running for a place to hide when it goes off. With it's sensitivity, is a toaster going to set it off? We've been RV'ing in various towablesl for close to 20 years and have been making toast under the broiler, so I thought I would buy a little inexpensive two slice toaster. Is it going to set off the alarm with all those little bits of crumbs that are going to burn? I'm debating whether continuing to broil my toast.

[3oaks]

I thought we were the only ones with that problem. We run the fantastic roof vent fan when cooking or even just making toast. Fortunately the fan is located between the stove and the fire alarm.

[NanciL]

DutchmenSport wrote:
It might not be the smartest thing we've done, but ours set off for almost everything. I pulled the batteries.

I did the same thing.

I guess if you had a large RV/trailer, and it was far away from the stove it would be ok, but having it installed almost directly over it just caused ours to go off every time we used the stove or oven.

jack L

[Ava]

I was going to say the same thing as Micheal. Put a shower cap over it when cooking but put a note nearby to remind yourself to remove it after. Doug

[DutchmenSport]

It might not be the smartest thing we've done, but ours set off for almost everything. I pulled the batteries.

[mgirardo]

You can purchase covers that go over the smoke detector so it doesn't go off while cooking. You can also use a shower cap. Just make sure you take it off when you are done cooking.

-Michael

[ReneeG]

Thanks for the information, Fred. I looked these up and the one we have looks like it, I'll just have to verify the model number. If that's the case, then it's malfunctioning.

[Golden_HVAC]

Try a photoelectric smoke detector near the kitchen, and move the other one to say the bedroom.

A photoelectric detector waits for more smoke before going off. However very high humidity can set it off. . . It should not be over a pot of boiling water. . .

It uses a LED light and photo receiver (like a solar panel) that detects that light. When there is so much smoke that the light is blocked, then it will trip the alarm. . .

Good luck,

Fred.