Owner's Manual

• NFPA 72 states: Life safety from fire in residential occupancies is
based primarily on early notification to occupants of the need to
escape, followed by the appropriate egress actions by those
occupants. Fire warning systems for dwelling units are capable of
protecting about half of the occupants in potentially fatal fires.
Victims are often intimate with the fire, too old or young, or
physically or mentally impaired such that they cannot escape
even when warned early enough that escape should be possible.
For these people, other strategies such as protection-in-place or
assisted escape or rescue are necessary.
• Smoke alarms are devices that can provide early warning of pos-
sible fires at a reasonable cost; however, alarms have sensing limi-
tations. Ionization sensing alarms may detect invisible fire parti-
cles (associated with fast flaming fires) sooner than photoelectric
alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect visible fire parti-
cles (associated with slow smoldering fires) sooner than ioniza-
tion alarms. Home fires develop in different ways and are often
unpredictable. For maximum protection, Kidde recommends that
both Ionization and Photoelectric alarms be installed.
• Abatterypoweredalarmmusthaveabatteryofthespecified type,
ingoodconditionandinstalledproperly.
• A.C. powered alarms (without battery backup) will not operate if
the A.C. power has been cut off, such as by an electrical fire or
an open fuse.
• Smoke alarms must be tested regularly to make sure the batteries
and the alarm circuits are in good operating condition.
• Smoke alarms cannot provide an alarm if smoke does not reach
the alarm. Therefore, smoke alarms may not sense fires starting
in chimneys, walls, on roofs, on the other side of a closed door
or on a different floor.
• If the alarm is located outside the bedroom or on a different
floor, it may not wake up a sound sleeper.
• The use of alcohol or drugs may also impair one’s ability to hear
the smoke alarm. For maximum protection, a smoke alarm
should be installed in each sleeping area on every level of a
home.
• Although smoke alarms can help save lives by providing an early
warning of a fire, they are not a substitute for an insurance poli-
cy. Home owners and renters should have adequate insurance to
protect their lives and property.