Insurance companies/smoke alarms

**Dave Lobster** · 7th January 2009, 17:07

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** · 7th January 2009, 17:31

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** · 7th January 2009, 18:13

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

**Dave Lobster** · 7th January 2009, 18:27

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** · 7th January 2009, 18:32

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** · 7th January 2009, 18:47

Was that a sky dish outside the house?

**Daffyd** · 7th January 2009, 18:50

Originally Posted by Paul in NZ

Was that a sky dish outside the house?

Priorities!!

**BiK3RChiK** · 7th January 2009, 19:00

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** · 7th January 2009, 19:39

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.

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** · 7th January 2009, 19:40

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** · 7th January 2009, 19:42

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** · 7th January 2009, 19:53

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

**Reido** · 7th January 2009, 21:41

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

**martybabe** · 7th January 2009, 21:58

Originally Posted by Reido

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** · 7th January 2009, 22:02

Originally Posted by martybabe

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