New and older homes alike should be outfitted with modern smoke alarm systems. Your local electrician can help you decide how many alarms you need, where to install them, and how to connect the alarms with home electrical wiring for the greatest safety.
When choosing a local electrician to install smoke detectors, make sure you hire someone with a strong background in electrical wiring and helpful knowledge about smoke alarm installation and safety.
Choose a local electrician with great experience and reputation
Ask friends, read online reviews, and get a sense of the background of your local electrician. Is their business established in the community? The more you can find — reviews, a website, references, portfolio, testimonials — the better.
Communication and honesty
When your local electrician arrives at your home, you want someone who is comfortable communicating with you. Transparency ensures that you will be confident and comfortable with the process. This person will be drilling holes and hanging out in your house! Have a phone conversation to make sure you get along okay.
An accurate quote
With the right knowledge and experience, a residential electrician can confidently provide a quote. Get a figure and a range, and ask about what factors could drive the price up or down. How much more would it cost to make certain upgrades? Would it be more cost-effective to have extra smoke detectors installed while you’ve got the electrician at your house?
Discuss number & location of smoke alarms
Your local electrician can help you decide where smoke alarms should be placed. Near bedrooms and kitchens, at the top of staircases, in the basement… you can increase safety with more units. The cost of the devices can be quite minimal, so you may want to ask about wiring and installing in more than a few places.
Hardwired electrical — no more batteries!
Ask about options for hardwired smoke alarms. A local electrician can wire smoke alarms into your home electrical system so you don’t have to rely on batteries. That’s right — no more sudden chirping because of dead batteries, and greater safety in the long run. Wiring a smoke alarm can be performed easily by a professional. Wired smoke alarms can have backup batteries for added protection, too.
Interconnected smoke alarm system?
Expert wiring can connect multiple smoke alarms in the home so all alarms get signaled when one detects smoke. Fire safety experts recommend connecting all smoke alarms for the highest safety, especially in larger homes. Your santa rosa electrician can connect two or more smoke alarms to make sure you wake up quickly if there’s fire.
Ask about future maintenance
Also discuss smoke alarm maintenance with your local electrician — how long before the devices and/or batteries should be replaced?
