Selecting a smoke alarm

4 min read

The kind of smoke alarms you need to install depends on when your house was built, renovated or extended. Learn which smoke alarms you need by law, and which smoke alarms CFA recommends for added protection.

Summary

The newer your home, the more sophisticated the smoke alarms you will need.
The number of smoke alarms you have are more important than the type.
You are legally required to have a smoke alarm between every sleeping area and the rest of the house.
CFA recommends having them in bedrooms and living areas as well.

Smoke alarms and the law

The kind of smoke alarms you need to install depends on when your house was built or renovated/extended. The more recently the work was done, the more sophisticated the smoke alarms need to be.

Type of smoke alarms required in your home

When was your home built or largely renovated?

CFA recommends extra smoke alarms

Research has shown that if a fire starts in your bedroom and the door is closed, the smoke alarm outside your bedroom is not likely to go off in time for you to escape.

CFA recommends going above the minimum requirements to provide more coverage to ensure your safety and the safety of others in your home.

You are allowed to install more smoke alarms than the law requires.
CFA recommends installing additional smoke alarms in every bedroom and living room.
These extra smoke alarms can be any type you choose.

CFA suggested options:

A smoke alarm on the ceiling which is open showing a 9 volt battery — Good. 9-volt battery-powered smoke alarm.

A smoke alarm on the ceiling with the words 10 years printed on it — Better. 10 year long-life battery-powered smoke alarm with a tamper-proof battery chamber.

Three rooms, a bedroom, a lounge room and a teenager's bedroom, all with smoke alarms on the ceiling. A dashed line connects all three smoke alarms and all the smoke alarms are making a noise, indicated by sound symbols. — Best. Wireless, interconnected smoke alarms with 10-year long-life battery.

TIP: If you can't afford the best smoke alarms right now, set a reminder in your phone to assess in the future whether you can afford to upgrade and install more smoke alarms.

Types of detection technology

Ionisation smoke alarms

Ionisation smoke alarms use a very small piece of radioactive material which ionises (charges) the air between two electrically-charged plates inside a detection chamber.

Best for areas: