Every year, Skip likes to remind the viewers how to protect themselves during Fire Safety and Prevention month. For 2021, he has some new products that will help you prevent a fire from spreading, and give you more escape time.
Made primarily of stone, ROCKWOOL stone wool insulation can protect your home and family in the event of a fire. The insulation is noncombustible. It can resist fire up to 2,150°F and prevent its spread. Homeowners can use ROCKWOOL insulation in a variety of applications around and throughout their home to create a more fire-resilient building.
You can use ROCKWOOL throughout your home to maximize fire safety:
- Install Comfortboard as continuous insulation on the exterior of your home, under cladding, for high protection in wildfire-prone areas and to achieve high energy efficiency.
- Use Comforbatt thermal insulation in exterior walls, attics and crawl spaces to improve fire safety and reach your energy goals.
- Use Safe’n’Sound fire safe and soundproofing insulation in interior walls and between floors for maximum fire protection inside your home.
ROCKWOOL stone wool insulation is made primarily of rock. It will resist ignition and will not burn, resisting temps up to 2,150°F. That will keep fire from spreading and provide more time to escape in the event a fire. It’s important protection whether you live in a high-risk Wildland Urban Interface zone, a suburb or the city. Not only will you get the benefit of added fire protection, ROCKWOOL stone wool insulation will also help create a more comfortable, quieter space, thanks to its excellent sound dampening properties
KIDDE
(clickable links below)
First, ensure you have the right devices to keep you safe. Make sure that smoke alarms and CO alarms are installed on every floor of your home, in every sleeping room and outside any sleeping areas. It is the law! Ensure your alarms – both fire and carbon monoxide – are in working order.
Everyone should be able to know what to do when you hear the sound of the alarm and be able to identify the various sounds coming from your smoke, carbon monoxide or combination alarm.
A combination alarm will talk to you as well as emit different alarm patterns when it is sounding.
- One beep or chirp, then a pause of 15, 30 or 60 seconds: a trouble condition, most often this signals a low battery
- Two beeps, then a pause of 30 seconds: it’s time to replace the ENTIRE alarm (not the battery). Note that not every model has this notification, so check your User Guide.
- Three beeps continuously: smoke has been detected; take emergency action
- Four beeps continuously: carbon monoxide detected; take emergency action
If you hear a long, continuous squeal, this may indicate that your alarm has one of the following conditions: Tamper-resist warning: This can be activated, causing the unit to go into alarm if it has been unplugged or has come loose from the outlet.
Why Do Smoke Alarms Always Chirp in the Middle of the Night?
It’s a sound many homeowners have heard: the 3 a.m. alarm chirp. Why does it happen? Well, it’s a simple matter of the battery’s charge level and a home’s air temperature.
As a smoke alarm’s battery nears the end of its life, the amount of power it produces causes an internal resistance. A drop in room temperature increases this resistance, which may impact the battery’s ability to deliver the power necessary to operate the unit in an alarm situation.
This battery characteristic can cause a smoke alarm to enter the low battery chirp mode when air temperatures drop. Most homes are the coolest between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. That’s why the alarm may sound a low-battery chirp in the middle of the night, and then stop when the home warms up a few degrees.
Can you reduce the possibility of this happening?
Yes! Here are some steps you can take:
· Replace the batteries in all your alarms and remember to test them weekly.
· Check the age of your smoke alarms. Kidde recommends replacing all smoke alarms – battery and hardwired – every 10 years. If your alarms are older or you don’t know their age, you should replace them.
· CO alarms will sound a required “end-of-life” chirp after seven to ten years of power. Beat the beep by replacing outdated alarms.
*NOTE: When the unit is disconnected from the 120V power supply and on battery backup, the alarm pattern will continue for the first five minutes after detecting carbon monoxide and then the cycle will repeat every minute.
Having functioning smoke alarms on each floor saves lives. In many fire events/tragedies there are either no alarms or the alarms present were not functioning.
Escape Planning: Prepare and practice an escape plan.
Conduct your own, or participate in, regular fire drills to make sure you know what to do in the event of a home fire.
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- Consider the mobility of seniors. If you or someone you live with cannot escape alone, designate a member of the household to assist, and decide on backups in case the designee is not home.
- Fire drills are also a good opportunity to make sure you’re able to hear and respond to smoke alarms.
- When escape planning, review your fire safety equipment. Are your alarms and fire extinguishers present where they should be? Are they functioning?
- Teach your family members the sounds of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and the correct response. Even pets can be taught to respond to the sound of an alarm. And remember, when in doubt, get out.
FLAME RETARDANTS
What are flame retardants?
Flame retardants are chemicals that are applied to materials to prevent the start or slow the growth of fire. They have been used in many consumer and industrial products since the 1970s, to decrease the ability of materials to ignite.
Flame retardants are often added or applied to the following products:
- Furnishings, such as foam, upholstery, mattresses, carpets, curtains, and fabric blinds.
- Electronics and electrical devices, such as computers, laptops, phones, televisions, and household appliances, plus wires and cables.
- Building and construction materials, including electrical wires and cables, and insulation materials, such as polystyrene and polyurethane insulation foams.
- Transportation products, such as seats, seat covers and fillings, bumpers, overhead compartments, and other parts of automobiles, airplanes, and trains.
There are many DIY products that you can use to spray your home’s curtains, furniture, and other flammable items as instructed on the product’s bottle.
