My Best Friend Is Alarmed

Greetings from my my best buddy's house in Phoenix, Arizona. There I am, on a ladder, wearing safety glasses and steel-toed Chippewa Firefighter boots. I am installing wireless interconnected smoke alarms for my best friend's safety and my peace of mind.

It is important to have adequate smoke alarms in homes. About 90% of people who die from exposure to toxic smoke produced by fire die in the place they feel safest: in their own home. Many of these fatal fires happen at night while sleeping. One smoke alarm in a hallway is insufficient, especially if you sleep with the bedroom door closed.

The best thing to have is an interconnected smoke alarm system. Such a system is designed such that if an alarm on one end of the home away from bedrooms detects smoke and its alarm sounds, all other alarms will go off too -- including those inside bedrooms where people sleep. That way, they can be awakened and have a chance to get out and away from toxic smoke that can kill them (then call the fire department once out of harm's way.)

The problem though with older homes is that wiring is not already present behind walls and ceilings to connect smoke alarms to the home's power supply and to each other. However, a leading smoke alarm manufacturer has solved that problem by inventing and selling battery-powered smoke alarms that interconnect wirelessly. Now all you have to do is put batteries in the alarm and attach it to the ceiling in the correct locations, and you're done. When one goes off, all the others go off, too. It took me five minutes a piece to do the installation (but shhh... don't tell AZ that; let him think that it was really hard and took me all day long LOL!)

I now feel better that new wireless smoke alarms are installed and working to protect my best buddy. These were my housewarming gift to him (labor included). Now, on to install Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt (GFCI) outlets in the bathrooms and kitchen....

Life is short: show those you love that you love them.