Fire Protection Tips for Your Home is so important because there is no such thing as a fireproof home. It’s impossible, even if you have the best fire protection system in place, considering that a house is made of materials like wood and insulation. But when it comes to preventing your home from catching on fire, there are plenty of other things you can do to help keep your family safe! These top tips will help ensure your safety and lower the risk of any costly damages if something goes wrong.
Fire Alarms and Heat Detectors
Fire alarms and heat detectors are the first line of defense for home fire protection, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
A working smoke alarm can alert you to a developing fire in your home before it’s too late. If you have an alarm system, the alarms may sound the moment that smoke is detected. However, if you don’t have an alarm system or your alarms do not work properly, then working smoke alarms provide early warning notification of a building fire.
Make sure that these devices are tested on a regular basis and replaced with fresh batteries when necessary. You should also make sure that they are placed near where they will detect fires most easily; for example, near the kitchen or bedroom if you have smoke alarms in these areas.
Other fire alarms to have include heat detectors on the ceiling or top of walls near bedrooms, which are typically the hottest in a home and therefore prone to house fires. They may also be used in high-risk areas such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, kitchens, garages and attics. Heat detectors are extremely sensitive devices that can detect even the slightest changes in temperatures; they may also be used to detect a developing fire by monitoring specific panels on walls or ceilings.
The two most common types of heat detectors are ionization and photoelectric, both of which detect fire by measuring the amount of heat in a particular area. The ionization detector uses positive and negative charges to measure the infrared energy in a space while the photoelectric detector uses light waves to detect changes in temperature.
Both detectors typically utilize a signaling device, such as a horn or beep, that sounds when they detect fire; this allows you to know when and where fires are present in your home.
Another type of detector is a pyrometer, which measures and analyzes the amounts of heat in a specific area, including the temperature of walls, floors and ceilings. Pyrometers can be easily hidden in various areas indoors to detect fire.
Some pyrometers have additional features such as motion detectors or continuous monitoring systems that turn on the alarm when they detect a physical movement (of people or pets) or an increase in temperatures.
To be effective, fire alarms should be installed in every room of the home and near all exits. The NFPA recommends that you test your alarms at least twice each year; make sure they work properly so that they can alert you to fires and prevent them from spreading.
Fire Extinguishers
Place a fire extinguisher near the kitchen, in each bedroom and near all of your doors. Make sure to place them on wheeled or heavy duty bases so that they can be moved easily when needed.
When it’s time to put out a fire, make sure you act quickly. Turn off any electrical appliances with fuses if you’re unsure and don’t use matches or lighters in any part of the house. After turning off electronics, close all doors and windows leading outside so that fresh air is not sucked into the burning room while using an extinguisher (this will help decrease the chances of oxygen being used up). If possible, take a second person with you when entering a burning room so that everyone is safe and can help out.
Looking for a great project to learn more about fire safety? See our tutorial on how to make a homemade fire extinguisher
Be sure that all members of your family know where the fire extinguishers are and how to use them. You should also practice with them at least once a year so that they are up to date with their training, especially if you have had to move recently or have new renters living in your home.
Be sure to use the appropriate type of fire extinguisher for each kind of fire you encounter; for example, do not use water on an electrical fire. Also, be sure to read the directions carefully on how to operate the device before using it so that you don’t make any mistakes in trying to put out a fire.
Additional Fire Protection Systems and Fire Protection Tips for Your Home
There are additional fire protection systems such as automatic sprinklers that can be used to go along with personal fire extinguishers to ensure that fires in your home are put out quickly and as well as they can be.
In addition to sprinkler systems you can look into compartmentation, which is when all openings in a wall are closed off using doorways and windows. Compartmentation can also be implemented using other methods such as flood level rise doors or self-closing doors, which consists of closing a door behind that has been opened without automatically opening it again. A lot of these techniques are seen in commercial buildings but some smaller ideas you can implement at home include:
- Emergency light will turn on when there’s an alarm
- Fireproof Doors to external entries such as the garage
- Intumescent paint is to protect steel beams against fire damage
Have an Evacuation Plan
One of the most important items in fire protection is to have an evacuation plan in place and ensure everyone in your household is aware of it. The importance of having a plan that addresses the potential need for evacuation is critically important to have in place. Some examples of methods of evacuating people who find it difficult or impossible to do so on their own, include using elevators, fire escapes and helping people out of windows. Please use common sense and be aware of the potential consequences of not having a plan.
Due to the importance, we will cover this in a full article. If you want more Fire Protection Tips for Your Home, read our Holiday Fire Prevention Tips
Conclusion
Today we discussed some basic but very important Fire Protection Tips for Your Home to keep everyone in your home safe in the event a fire does occur. To leave you with one tip, it is to be sure that everyone in your family knows what to do in case of a fire.
Have questions of comments, please contact us or leave comments below.