Smoke detectors serve an important role in your house. They are an important line of defense to protect your family from a devastating fire but they are only as good as the person who installed them and maintains them. Read this article for tips on maintaining and installing a home smoke detector.

Smoke detectors should at a minimum be installed on every floor in your home. If possible, place one in each bedroom of your home. In case of a fire, sleepers may not hear a fire detector that is in a hallway. They will have no problem hearing one that is in the bedroom however.

When installing a smoke detector, consider the location where you will place it. In general you should place them in the center of a ceiling or if you place them on a wall they should be at least 10 inches below the ceiling. If you place a wall mounted detector too close to the ceiling or a ceiling mounted detector in a corner an air pocket may form around them. This air pocket would make them slower to detect smoke.

Also be careful not to place a smoke detector too close to a kitchen or fireplace. The false alarms can be annoying and you household might develop an immunity to the alarm and not believe it in a real fire.

Finally, test your detectors at least one time every month by lighting and blowing out a match underneath the alarm. If it fails to respond, check the batteries or replace it. Also if your detector starts to chirp, the batteries are low and you should replace them immediately.

These are simple steps that anyone can easily undertake. In under 5 minutes a month you can help safeguard your home and family.