Smoke alarms. Heat alarms, CO Detectors are you ready?

[Don Dan]

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/scottish-government-issues-update-penalties-22834567
 

I was wondering how may people are aware of this new requirement from the SG. I’m also wondering how many people have or will actually fit these? 

[Don Dan]

Homeowners in Scotland, who do fail to comply with the new fire alarms legislation, will not face any penalties, the government reassures.

The new rules will come into force from February 1 and will require all homes in Scotland to have an interlinked smoke alarm system in place - meaning if one is set off, then the rest are triggered - with one in the living room, each hallway and a heat alarm in the kitchen.

Furthermore, carbon monoxide detectors will be required to be fitted in every room with a carbon-fuelled appliance, such as a stove.

The Scottish Government allows a "reasonable period" after this deadline for the installation of the new alarm system.

While Scottish Labour requested to delay the deadline - which was done already due to the Covid-19 pandemic - referring to supply chain issues, Housing Secretary, Shona Robison, rejected the request, the Daily Records reports

[Don Dan]

Just chatting to the wife about it and there has been no real publicity about it eg Sturgeon or a relevant minister doing TV or Radio announcements or postal notifications. We part comply with CO detectors in linked smoke alarms in the lower hall way and upper hall way. No smoke alarm in the lounge or heat detector in the kitchen.  Bit of a job now to retrofit linked detectors and a cost as well. I’m not sure a lot of people will have the spare funds to do this retrofit work now especially if inflation is kicking in. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

I did mine about 6 weeks ago. Cost about £200 to get them sent and 5 minutes to install.

Wife was on at me for months and finally got round to it to keep her happy.

Bit pissed off that the government legistate this and then, when they realise the utter shithousery they have made of it, can't be arsed applying their law.

I mean I had perfectly good smoke alarms and I had to replace them because it's the ****ing law.

Make it guidance FFS, but know, they jump in without thinking it through, which is typical of the nanny state they are running.

 

[Jeffros Furios]

15 minutes ago, Boy Daniel said:

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/scottish-government-issues-update-penalties-22834567
 

I was wondering how may people are aware of this new requirement from the SG. I’m also wondering how many people have or will actually fit these? 

It was only a couple of weeks ago I became aware that this was a requirement

Some insurers have stated that they won't specifically ask and are quite happy with one smoke alarm .

Quite a lot of money and I would recommend people check that thier house insurance is valid 

I dont think it's been publicised very well .

 

[William H. Bonney]

Got mine on pre-order. Should be here mid to late February. 

[Don Dan]

https://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/smoke-alarms/cat810274?interlinked=interlinked
 

range of prices but you are talking £50 upwards each plus installing. 

[Jambo_jim2001]

Had mines installed for years,,save your life but won't stop your house burning down,typical insurance company any get our clause,if your house is burnt down how are they going to know if alarms were fitted? My dog, cat,and Mrs out first gives me a softer landing🤪

[Cruyff]

Aye, 3 at £65 a pop.

 

[Jambo_jim2001]

2 minutes ago, Cruyff said:

Aye, 3 at £65 a pop.

 

Price will probably come down once panic buying is over

[Footballfirst]

You can get 10 year sealed battery heat and smoke interlinked alarms at £25 per alarm at the link below.  Fit them yourself with a couple of screws.

 

https://www.expresselectrical.net/fire-and-security/domestic-smoke-and-fire-alarms 

[Don Dan]

5 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

You can get 10 year sealed battery heat and smoke interlinked alarms at £25 per alarm at the link below.  Fit them yourself with a couple of screws.

 

https://www.expresselectrical.net/fire-and-security/domestic-smoke-and-fire-alarms 

Thanks FF never new these were available. 
My problem is I’ve recently replaced the two I have so I would need to scrap them and go for the above. 

[Footballfirst]

1 minute ago, Boy Daniel said:

Thanks FF never new these were available. 
My problem is I’ve recently replaced the two I have so I would need to scrap them and go for the above. 

The CO2 alarm doesn't need to be interlinked so you can get a stand alone 10 year battery model at Screwfix or Amazon etc. for the same price or less.

 

[Cruyff]

37 minutes ago, Jambo_jim2001 said:

Price will probably come down once panic buying is over

 

34 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

You can get 10 year sealed battery heat and smoke interlinked alarms at £25 per alarm at the link below.  Fit them yourself with a couple of screws.

 

https://www.expresselectrical.net/fire-and-security/domestic-smoke-and-fire-alarms 

 

 Oh well, its done now. 

 

Still

[Des Lynam]

1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

You can get 10 year sealed battery heat and smoke interlinked alarms at £25 per alarm at the link below.  Fit them yourself with a couple of screws.

 

https://www.expresselectrical.net/fire-and-security/domestic-smoke-and-fire-alarms 

Thanks FF! 
 

 

[obua]

Another get out clause for insurance companies to refuse payout.

[Dagger Is Back]

Having had the ‘pleasure’ of dealing with an insurance claim following a flood, I’ll be making damn sure that I fully understand my current and future insurance companies requirements.

 

They’ll do anything they can to avoid paying  out.

 

 

[Boab]

13 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

The CO2 alarm doesn't need to be interlinked so you can get a stand alone 10 year battery model at Screwfix or Amazon etc. for the same price or less.

 

 

Anyone buying and fitting them themselves, just be careful to follow the regs on distancing. Different types of alarms for designated areas, smoke, heat, CO etc.

Basically read the instructions or, better yet, get a spark to fit it and you'll get a test certificate...or all least you should unless he arrives on a horse !

[jambosean75]

if you stay in a rented property is the landlord supposed to install these or is it down to the tenant?

[joondalupjambo]

12 minutes ago, jambosean75 said:

if you stay in a rented property is the landlord supposed to install these or is it down to the tenant?

Landlord it is on the SG website.

[joondalupjambo]

Did mine late last year after reading about through 2021 and after the delays announced to introduce it in February of that year.

 

One thing that is a risk, and I cannot find it anything about this anywhere is if it an electrician installs them they give you a signed installation certificate.  The issue is if you install them yourself, and then you need to claim will your insurance company ask for a installation certificate?  Will they say no certificate so no proof of install?  If you ask them now, before you install will they will take the risk averse position and say a certificate is needed?  Minefield.

 

Oh and remember if you put your house up for sale after 1/2/22 you will need to have them installed for the Home Report.

 

And since it is a rant where is the SG evidence of house fires being so serious with deaths that we all need them?   We have had one kitchen fire in a house in our village in the last 10 years but now suddenly we all need them.  Nonsense.

 

[Jambo314]

11 minutes ago, joondalupjambo said:

Did mine late last year after reading about through 2021 and after the delays announced to introduce it in February of that year.

 

One thing that is a risk, and I cannot find it anything about this anywhere is if it an electrician installs them they give you a signed installation certificate.  The issue is if you install them yourself, and then you need to claim will your insurance company ask for a installation certificate?  Will they say no certificate so no proof of install?  If you ask them now, before you install will they will take the risk averse position and say a certificate is needed?  Minefield.

 

Oh and remember if you put your house up for sale after 1/2/22 you will need to have them installed for the Home Report.

 

And since it is a rant where is the SG evidence of house fires being so serious with deaths that we all need them?   We have had one kitchen fire in a house in our village in the last 10 years but now suddenly we all need them.  Nonsense.

 

For peace of mind, this is why I chose to go down the route of having a reputable company install mines .... good fellow Jambos https://www.edinburghalarmcompany.co.uk/

Edited January 23, 2022 by Jambo314

[Jambo-Jimbo]

15 hours ago, Boy Daniel said:

Just chatting to the wife about it and there has been no real publicity about it eg Sturgeon or a relevant minister doing TV or Radio announcements or postal notifications. We part comply with CO detectors in linked smoke alarms in the lower hall way and upper hall way. No smoke alarm in the lounge or heat detector in the kitchen.  Bit of a job now to retrofit linked detectors and a cost as well. I’m not sure a lot of people will have the spare funds to do this retrofit work now especially if inflation is kicking in. 

 

A neighbour got her's done, £328 it cost her, to have the two hard wired smoke detectors taken out and new inter-linked smoke/heat alarms put in.

Don't ask me how it cost that amount as I don't know, it just did.

 

I'm like yourself, as I have two hard-wired linked smoke alarms, one in each hallway, the downstairs one is directly outside the kitchen door and a matter of 3 feet from the living room door, so to comply with this ruling, I'll have to get a heat alarm in the kitchen a matter of a few feet away from an existing smoke alarm and another one in the living room, again a matter of feet away from the existing smoke alarm.  Upstairs the existing smoke alarm is outside all the bedrooms, but as I use one of the rooms as an office and it's occupied all day everyday I'll have to put a smoke alarm in there, which again is a matter of a few away from the existing alarm.

 

Plus you have to replace them every 10 years or so, or whenever the batteries run out as they are all sealed units, so when the battery dies you'll have to replace them.

Whilst It's a great idea to make sure every house has smoke alarms, imo they just haven't thought this through about the tens/hundreds of thousands of homes which have adaquate alarms already fitted, it's a one size fits all approach.

 

I won't be getting it done until either my insurance insists on it or I go to sell the house or my two existing alarms need replaced, which will be about 5 years time give or take.

[joondalupjambo]

11 minutes ago, Jambo314 said:

For peace of mind, this is why I chose to go down the route of having a reputable company install mines .... good fellow Jambos https://www.edinburghalarmcompany.co.uk/

Yep my local electrian did mine and certificate signed, sealed and delivered.  More expensive than a self install but done and dusted now. 

 

Have a flat my son lives in, in Dundee and that has three working, hard wired devices but they are not interlinked so guess I will need to get those re-done as well.  That is another con because the cat that swings in his flat can stand in the hall and touch the ones in that area, the kitchen and the lounge without moving!!  

 

Just read your other post and seems you have same issue as my son's flat.

Edited January 23, 2022 by joondalupjambo

[Jeffros Furios]

3 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

A neighbour got her's done, £328 it cost her, to have the two hard wired smoke detectors taken out and new inter-linked smoke/heat alarms put in.

Don't ask me how it cost that amount as I don't know, it just did.

 

I'm like yourself, as I have two hard-wired linked smoke alarms, one in each hallway, the downstairs one is directly outside the kitchen door and a matter of 3 feet from the living room door, so to comply with this ruling, I'll have to get a heat alarm in the kitchen a matter of a few feet away from an existing smoke alarm and another one in the living room, again a matter of feet away from the existing smoke alarm.  Upstairs the existing smoke alarm is outside all the bedrooms, but as I use one of the rooms as an office and it's occupied all day everyday I'll have to put a smoke alarm in there, which again is a matter of a few away from the existing alarm.

 

Plus you have to replace them every 10 years or so, or whenever the batteries run out as they are all sealed units, so when the battery dies you'll have to replace them.

Whilst It's a great idea to make sure every house has smoke alarms, imo they just haven't thought this through about the tens/hundreds of thousands of homes which have adaquate alarms already fitted, it's a one size fits all approach.

 

I won't be getting it done until either my insurance insists on it or I go to sell the house or my two existing alarms need replaced, which will be about 5 years time give or take.

On the point about insurers I don't think they will be bothered about the Scot Gov guidance, 

I can't see an insurer having different criteria for Scottish polices only 

I will  check just to be sure .

[Alex]

48 minutes ago, jambosean75 said:

if you stay in a rented property is the landlord supposed to install these or is it down to the tenant?

Your landlord should already have insltalled them, they've been required in rented properties since 2013/2015

Edited January 23, 2022 by Alex
Typo

[joondalupjambo]

2 hours ago, Alex said:

Your landlord should already have insltalled them, they've been required in rented properties since 2013/2015

Yeah for sure but are the ones that the landlords have installed currently interlinked?  That is a difference because many will just be stand alone devices at the moment and they need to be interlinked from February 2022.

[Tazio]

I’ve got proper interlinked ones but as my gaff isn’t very big they are comically close to each other in terms of distance. Cooking a steak can mean they all go off if I don’t close all the doors and it sounds like a nuclear war is on the way they’re so loud. 

[frankblack]

2 hours ago, Jeffros Furios said:

On the point about insurers I don't think they will be bothered about the Scot Gov guidance, 

I can't see an insurer having different criteria for Scottish polices only 

I will  check just to be sure .

 

My experience of working in financial services is that they go with English rules, but insurers are known to be complete *******s about paying out, so you never know...

[Jambo314]

There's a few Insurers who have come out and said that it won't make any difference to your home insurance whether you have interlinked alarms or not. They said if they were to make any future changes to your policy that you would be notified by letter.

[GBJambo]

6 minutes ago, Jambo314 said:

There's a few Insurers who have come out and said that it won't make any difference to your home insurance whether you have interlinked alarms or not. They said if they were to make any future changes to your policy that you would be notified by letter.

Yep checked with mine as mine is an English based company and not applicable in England 

 

im not getting them. I live in a flat and they suggest I have a smoke alarm in my hall , my living room and kitchen. It’s overkill. I have one already in my living room and I can hear it my bedrooms easily 

 

[GinRummy]

I’m not going to bother. I’ve got one downstairs and one upstairs as it is. Waste of time for some properties. If the kitchen one went off I’d hear it upstairs and vice versa. 

[RICHARD THE LION HEART]

Got mine from here - https://www.linkedupalarms.com/store/

still to fit them though - looks fairly easy

[Sooperstar]

19 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

The CO2 alarm doesn't need to be interlinked so you can get a stand alone 10 year battery model at Screwfix or Amazon etc. for the same price or less.

 

Wouldn't go getting a CO2 one if you value your sleep/sanity.

[Irufushi]

I have had a look and think my house has them all linked up as it’s a new build I purchased in 2020. 
 

i wouldn’t be bothering if they weren’t linked. Seems like a complete waste of time and money for a lot of folk who can’t afford this. 

[Tazio]

2 minutes ago, Sooperstar said:

Wouldn't go getting a CO2 one if you value your sleep/sanity.

I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that. 
CO 

[Footballfirst]

3 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that. 
CO 

Ha ha  .. I was only an O out.

[indianajones]

The legislation obviously makes sense but why implement it now of all times?

 

Inflation kicking most households in the face just now. This isn't overly cheap to get sorted. 

[Boab]

59 minutes ago, indianajones said:

The legislation obviously makes sense but why implement it now of all times?

 

Inflation kicking most households in the face just now. This isn't overly cheap to get sorted. 

It was announced in 2019 and should have come in last year but they kicked it into the long grass because of covid etc.

[Alex]

3 hours ago, joondalupjambo said:

Yeah for sure but are the ones that the landlords have installed currently interlinked?  That is a difference because many will just be stand alone devices at the moment and they need to be interlinked from February 2022.

According to the legislation quoted by The Scottish Association of Landlords, they should be linked (except the gas one/s)

[joondalupjambo]

18 minutes ago, Alex said:

According to the legislation quoted by The Scottish Association of Landlords, they should be linked (except the gas one/s)

That seems to match then what the SG guidelines are saying.  

[indianajones]

43 minutes ago, Boab said:

It was announced in 2019 and should have come in last year but they kicked it into the long grass because of covid etc.

 

They should kick it into the longer grass again imo. 

 

People cannot afford to fork out what they are asking just now.

[Lord Montpelier]

More overreach by the nanny state that is the Scottish government. 

 

Give me a grant and I'll do it.

[Ray Gin]

22 hours ago, Boy Daniel said:

Just chatting to the wife about it and there has been no real publicity about it eg Sturgeon or a relevant minister doing TV or Radio announcements or postal notifications. We part comply with CO detectors in linked smoke alarms in the lower hall way and upper hall way. No smoke alarm in the lounge or heat detector in the kitchen.  Bit of a job now to retrofit linked detectors and a cost as well. I’m not sure a lot of people will have the spare funds to do this retrofit work now especially if inflation is kicking in. 

 

I had a letter in the post about it several months ago.

 

 

[Alex]

42 minutes ago, joondalupjambo said:

That seems to match then what the SG guidelines are saying.  

Yeah, the requirements are the same just Jambosean75's landlord should have fitted them years ago.

[lost in space]

This COULD have been a decent initiative by Scottish Govt - if they had properly funded it. Now, some older people who can't afford it are paying hundreds to have installed as they fear they will break the law.

It should have had proper means tested grants . Don't tell me means testing costs too much. That is a LIE!

I contacted my insurance company (Tesco Bank) in writing to find out if I would be covered without alarms. They were not keen to answer so I complained and they finally wrote to say that alarms were not part of their risk assessment and that I would be covered.

The installation of these alarms will save lives and had it been brought in gradually and with proper planning it would have been worthwhile but it is absolute shambles.

[SupaJT]

Something to be aware of is that regardless of whether you get hard wired or sealed battery alarms, they both would need to be replaced every 10 years or so. The sensor degrades over time apparently.

 

Hard wired are cheaper, but you need to pay to get them installed. Sealed battery more expensive, but you can fit them yourself. Amazon sell magnetic pads, £8 for four which make it easy to put up. 

 

If you're planning to stay somewhere for more than ten years might be worth getting them installed but imagine the saving would be marginal, especially when you consider the extra hassle. 

[graygo]

5 hours ago, Alex said:

According to the legislation quoted by The Scottish Association of Landlords, they should be linked (except the gas one/s)

 

4 hours ago, Alex said:

Yeah, the requirements are the same just Jambosean75's landlord should have fitted them years ago.

 

I think the difference is that they must be sealed units now, you could have had linked devices but with replaceable batteries before.

[Bindy Badgy]

Great Reddit thread that shows why carbon monoxide detectors are important here.

[milky_26]

2 hours ago, Bindy Badgy said:

Great Reddit thread that shows why carbon monoxide detectors are important here.

I was in a meeting a couple of weeks ago and it is normal that at the start of the meeting for someone to mention somety safety related.

 

What someone brought up was a guy who has a wood burner in his living room during the night heard an alarm. It was something he did not recognize, he went downstairs to investigate and saw it was his CO alarm. He assumes it was false as he assumed all smoke etc would go up his chimney, however it was during those strong winds we had a few months ago. Luckily his wife said no let's go outside and phone the fire brigade. When the fire brigade arrived they checked the CO levels and they were more than double the levels that kill. What had happened was the strong winds ended up blowing some of the CO back down his chimney.