Insurance companies/smoke alarms

[Dave Lobster]

Just watching on the propaganda box that there are 'calls' to change the law to make smoke alarms compulsory.. there's a bit about an insurance company saying the law should be changed to make everyone have them.

The sort of people that don't have them (with charged up batteries).. are they likely to have insurance anyway? Surely if you're switched on enough to bother with insurance, you'd be bright enough to make sure you have smoke alarms.

[Usarka]

If your smoke alarm goes off doesn't it mean your house is already on fire?

They may save lives but do they save property???????

[JimO]

the particular story they were on about HAD alarms, whats next make it compulsary to have batterys in your smoke alarm

[Dave Lobster]

Pointless.. if the incentive make sure the batteries are good, or your family will die if you have a fire isn't enough, I can't see a fine making much difference.

[CB ARGH]

FFS smoke alarms are no more than fifteen bucks. ATM supercheap is doing a buy one get one free deal, so if you ain't got one, get your ass down there a bloody buy one.

Yeah the property may not be saved, but you stand a higher chance of survival if you install one.

I support the idea of making them compulsery.

[Paul in NZ]

Was that a sky dish outside the house?

[Daffyd]

Was that a sky dish outside the house?

Priorities!!

[BiK3RChiK]

It won't make one iota of difference, IMO. If the batteries are not checked and replaced then what's the good of compulsory alarms? And those batteries aren't cheap either... but, having said that, they are much cheaper than life!

[martybabe]

I went to a house fire where the residents were saved by the smoke alarm, it fell off the ceiling in the fire, melted, got kicked around by a besquillion Firemen,drenched in water and still the little bastard wouldn't give up wailing.

I was mightily impressed and wrote to the company to tell them so, they sent me back a large box full of the same model alarm which I duly fixed to some local pensioners homes, about ten homes in all.

To prove your point, I went back to visit the old dears about a year later and only one of the ten had a working battery in it, 3 had been removed because they didn't like the beeping noise they made when the battery was running out.:gob:

I think every new home has to have them by law now, in the UK, but you'll never remove the human factor from the equation eh.

[Swoop]

I'm tending to think that the Liquor Licencing Trust is a better idea.
Every household in the area has been provided with a minimum of one and usually more than that, as well as a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher and a a torch.
The other profits have been put into the local sports stadium.

Instead of supermarkets keeping the profits for their (mostly) overseas shareholders, we get the re-investment back into our community.

As for making them compulsory... who is going to police that the device is working?
It sounds like the "proposed law" has been dreamt up by the remnants of the Looney Labourite Party that wanted to ban lightbulbs.

[Usarka]

I'm going to sell phoney detectors at 1/2 the price that dont need batteries and will look like the real thing once they've been melted by fire.

[fliplid]

just like all safety type stuff- no use if it aint used!

[Reido]

i reckon they should be compulsory in every new building.. and have them wired to the house's power.. no battery problems then

[martybabe]

i reckon they should be compulsory in every new building.. and have them wired to the house's power.. no battery problems then


It can be done mate but then you've got no alarm during a power cut and the house electrics quite often cause or short out during a fire. Maybe mains with a battery back up like yer alarm clock.

[Reido]

It can be done mate but then you've got no alarm during a power cut and the house electrics quite often cause or short out during a fire. Maybe mains with a battery back up like yer alarm clock.

thats kinda what i meant, like running on mains to save the battery for when its needed

[martybabe]

thats kinda what i meant, like running on mains to save the battery for when its needed

Cool, you may be on to something. :niceone:

[jetboy]

Some of the responses to this topic suprise me.

Why are people anti-smoke detectors? Yes, they cost a whopping $20 and the battries need to be changed every year (I'm sure this is a cost anyone can afford), but they save lives!

Have a look here (http://www.woodendfire.blakjak.net/Smoke%20Alarms.htm) for some more information from people in the know.

I'd rather be out of pocket by $30 then to have a higher chance of my loved ones ending up burned or even killed. No, alarms don't stop the fire, but who gives a flying fcuk about the house when your two kids' lives are at stake?
If you have insurance then the house can be rebuilt. Nothing can raise the dead (as far as I am aware!).

[Mully]

Two words..... Darwin Awards.

Fuck making them compulsory - it'll weed out the weaker of the species keeping the precious resourses only for those with common sense

We have one in every bedroom, one in the hallway and one in the lounge. Licencing Trusts FTW (plus buying a few).

[JimO]

last year i woke up with my pillow on fire, the electric blanket controll had shorted out,the blanket was turned on at the wall but off at the controll, setting the pillow alight, i rolled over felt heat on my face, opened my eyes and saw flames right in front of my face, i jumped out of bed yelling fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, grabbed the burning pillow and ran down stairs and threw it out the door onto the lawn then ran back upstairs and turned the blanket off at the wall, my wife had woken up and both smoke alarms just started to go off as i got to the top of the stairs, my 3 boys slept through the alarms....

[JimO]

<a href="http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x67/jim157/?action=view&current=DSCF1843.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x67/jim157/DSCF1843.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Dave Lobster]

I've just seen another 'news' report about the house in south Auckland.. with the reporting saying something along the lines of smoke alarms.. don't judge the family etc.

Does this mean that what comes next is that it's the State's fault for not replacing the batteries in the smoke alarms?

How much will this cost the taxpayer?

[Devil]

And those batteries aren't cheap either...

Errr... just replaced ours. $3.00 for a 9v...

[Dave Lobster]

Errr... just replaced ours. $3.00 for a 9v...

If you're struggling, get your local pastor to do a whip round for you.