My sister lives in Scotland. We are on holiday here.
Turns out (who knew) some booloo law has been passed so all houses have to have a fully interlinked set of smoke and co alarms fitted, by next February.
I have been asked to advise, and haven't a clue about such things. Anyone been down this route and know of a system that works well, isn't mains, and complies with this Scottish law?
I find it amazing they can make the householder pay out some hundreds by law, but there we are.
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I bought Fire Angel - battery system - the batteries are 10 year life.
The actual alarms came without the wireless connection modules which were extra
and you plug them in
It cost around £320 when we bought them a few months back.
Youtube videos show how to pair the alarms.
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I agree with CCs last sentence. Blooming cheek if you ask me. I already have CO and smoke detectors, all replaced in the last 2 years, but they aren't linked and if I had to replace them I wouldn't be best pleased.
The doc linked says this has come about due to Grenfell, which was a tower block of cladded flats. It's a bit of a jump to extrapolate those risks to ordinary houses.
Maybe their home insurance will go down (yeah right)
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What's the penalty for not having these?
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>> What's the penalty for not having these?
Incineration.
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Is it retrospective, or just applicable to new build?
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Retrospective as far as I can see. By Feb next year
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 4 Nov 21 at 19:19
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Soon as my sis said about it, I said well, new build only, obviously? But no, every property.
It is a good idea in theory, but it would have been a lot easier for the end user to subsidise some sort of approved system, and you pay fifty quid to get a box of standard stuff in the post, or something.
I guess if you don't do it, then good luck with your insurance if you have a fire, and probably it will be inspected when you sell the house.
I also don't quite understand the interlinking. In my house, if my upstairs alarm goes, or the kitchen one, or whatever, I have a rough idea where the problem is and can plan accordingly. Don't open the kitchen door, or go out the back or whatever. If it's all interlinked then I lose that information and might make a poor choice of exit route?
None of which makes me think it a bad idea of course.
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>>If it's all interlinked then I lose that information and might make a poor choice of exit route?
That ain't the half of it.
If one goes faulty, they'll all go off.
If one goes off by accident even if you know about it, they'll all go off.
etc. etc.
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Umm. Back to England next week. Sanity.
Oh, wait.
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This was supposed to come in this year I think but was delayed due to covid.
Haven’t looked at it recently but you used to be able to buy a pack from Amazon or Screwfix that did everything you needed.
Doesn’t need to be hard wired, lithium battery ones are acceptable.
I am assuming in rented accommodation it will the responsibility of the landlord to comply?
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>> I bought Fire Angel - battery system - the batteries are 10 year life.
It cost around £320 when we bought them a few months back.>>
Merseyside Fire Brigade has fitted fire alarms free of charge for years, which include the Fire Angel models.
Unfortunately the 10 year battery life span proved in reality to be around three years, so mine and those of many others have had to be replaced by the fire brigade at least twice.....
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I've seen that fire brigades do this, do you need to be means tested or anything? Otherwise seems an odd use of a public resource. Though maybe it's done in their spare time, which they must have loads of, in between fires.
just remembered I knew a fiorement from the North East a few years back. Very very big lad he was, and a lot of fun too. He and his mates took time off work in the autumn to put up Christmas lights for councils, which I believe was quite lucrative.
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>> I've seen that fire brigades do this, do you need to be means tested or anything? Otherwise seems an odd use of a public resource. >>
It's actually a very sensible use of a public resource - prevention is better than cure!
Merseyside Fire Brigade's firemen have been installing fire alarms free of charge for many years. They visit local residential properties on a regular basis over the years and anyone can have them fitted. At the same time they offer potential fire risk checks if property owners agree.
All very sensible and a good use of firemen's time in between attending fires or training, as you suggest.
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>> I've seen that fire brigades do this, do you need to be means tested or
>> anything? Otherwise seems an odd use of a public resource. Though maybe it's done in
>> their spare time, which they must have loads of, in between fires.
I'd expect the main fire cover to still be provided from the fire station with guys doing this on call if there are more 'shouts' than expected. Alarms bulk bought will be cheaper than retail and given the low cost involved and the 'prevention' gain the cost of administering a means test cannot be justified.
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In my experience, Fire guys turn up in a fire engine for this sort of thing and doing regular fire safety checks.
Ready to disappear the moment they get a shout
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>>Otherwise seems an odd use of a public resource
Really? It seems like *exactly* the right use of a public resource. Community dosh to help the community, just like it should be.
Not "sorry we can't help you because you could afford to help yourself" but "We can help so we should".
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Scottish smoke alarm law - Bromptonaut
