Smoke alarms going off for no reason?

[BaymaxFan78]

Not really sure where else to ask so Disboards community board here I come!

I was woken up this morning by the smoke alarm in my room going off. Full on beeping as if there was a fire. But it stopped after a few seconds by itself and I think it was only the one alarm going off (I was half asleep I couldn't tell). I searched the whole house and there's no fire or smoke or anything, but the smoke alarm in another bedroom across the house is blinking green, indicating it was the alarm that detected smoke first. I'm stumped why it went off, why seemingly only my room alarm went off and none of the others connected did (there are 7 total), even the one that supposedly set them off. And why it stopped by itself so soon?

 

[PalmettoPath]

If they're old, it could be time to replace them. I would email the company of whatever brand it is, or call their customer service if they have a number. If you still have the manuals, it may be in the troubleshooting section. But if they went off with no smore or fire or anything, then I wouldn't be trusting these units at this point if it were me. They generally have a 10-year lifespan, so if they're close to that, it could be worth getting new ones.

 

[BaymaxFan78]

If they're old, it could be time to replace them. I would email the company of whatever brand it is, or call their customer service if they have a number. If you still have the manuals, it may be in the troubleshooting section. But if they went off with no smore or fire or anything, then I wouldn't be trusting these units at this point if it were me. They generally have a 10-year lifespan, so if they're close to that, it could be worth getting new ones.

They're 5 years old I think. I had a similar issue before, I want to say it was after we had replaced all of them, where an alarm in the attic went off for no reason, triggering the entire house. I never found out the actual cause but I'm pretty sure a piece of insulation fell and got into it.

We replaced all of them a while back because 2 of them starred "malfunctioning" where it would do 3 chirps similar to the low battery alarm but it wouldn't stop until you replaced the entire unit.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Was there any steam? I used to live in an apartment where the shower would set off the smoke alarm. It was very annoying.

 

[_19disnA]

Some types can setoff the alarm if dust has accumulated where the sensors are located. The chirping sound could mean the battery is low and needs to be replaced. In homes where they are all wired together all of them may go off as a safety feature in the event there really was a fire. If you can't find a reason and it keeps doing it every so often, then probably the best alternative is to replace it with a new unit.

 

[Southernmiss]

Some types can setoff the alarm if dust has accumulated where the sensors are located. The chirping sound could mean the battery is low and needs to be replaced. In homes where they are all wired together all of them may go off as a safety feature in the event there really was a fire. If you can't find a reason and it keeps doing it every so often, then probably the best alternative is to replace it with a new unit.

This.

We had the alarms randomly go off, always in the middle of the night.

We replaced them and no more issues.

 

[kanerf]

If they are multi-mode, smoke, heat and CO, any of these could set it off. Also, dust in the air can trigger smoke.

 

[LuvOrlando]

You didn't say if you are in an apartment or home, you also don't say if it is hardwired in or not.

Are you certain it is smoke and not a CO2 & Smoke alarm? It could be CO2 so I'd open all windows a while. When it's very hot or very cold people don't open windows & doors as much so unseen problems can build dangerously.

Maybe drop by your local Walmart & pick up a stand alone battery or plug in Smoke and CO2 combo. We have them on hand to test areas when the alarms do this so I can be certain the space is safe. If the alarm is going off and the new one is not I know the alarm is failing, if both go off get out.

 

[DLgal]

Many of the combo CO2/Smoke alarms speak out loud what is being detected. Like, they will literally say "FIRE" or "CO2". We have those kind.

Last year, this same thing happened to me. The alarm in my room went off at like 5am. It said "FIRE". There was no fire. Freaked me out, and I tore around the house looking in every room to be sure. The light on my unit was intermittently flashing red, indicating it was the unit triggered. I got up on a ladder, took it off, took a can of compressed air, blasted it and a huge cloud of dust came out. Reset it, and it's been quiet ever since.

 

[aprilgail]

when dust gets in mine it goes off and I have to get canned air and blow it out.

 

[amcnj]

I have heard that over time dust and dirt can accumulate and they need to be cleaned out. I have also heard that insects can be an issue too.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The only time we had one go off for no reason was likely due to dust/debris in/around the unit. It wasn't too too long after we moved into our house (which was new construction). We investigated all the house including the attic space to see if there was a fire and couldn't find one. My husband used an air compressor and blew around it and it hasn't happened since.

We have had to replace what was likely a faulty detector but only 1, it chirped for low battery and we replaced the battery but the next day it chirped again. Purchased a new unit for that particular one and it hasn't happened since as far as replacing battery but not registering. We have a volt meter too to check if the battery is bad and we knew the ones we had replaced in the old unit were brand new and had the anticipated voltage.

The 10 year rule is by manufactured not by installation date. I went through all of ours and wrote down the various dates and that piece of paper is on the fridge

 

[PollyannaMom]

I keep seeing things on the news about air quality due to smoke from wildfires in Canada.

Are you hearing those too, and did you have windows open?

 

[DLgal]

I keep seeing things on the news about air quality due to smoke from wildfires in Canada.

Are you hearing those too, and did you have windows open?

Wildfire smoke won't cause home smoke alarms to go off unless you are literally close enough to the fires, have windows open, AND you can see visible smoke coming into your home. No one would be that close, still at home, and have their windows open.

In 2020, we had a massive wildfire in the foothills about 2 miles from our home. We had to evacuate. Even still, our smoke alarms never went off, even though we could smell smoke from inside our house.

 

[tvguy]

I had one go off seemingly for no reason, and I opened it and a spider crawled out.
At know at one place I worked we had issues with dust setting them off. A $500 fine from the Fire Department motivated the company to have a Fire service come in annually to vacuum the smoke detectors.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I had one go off seemingly for no reason, and I opened it and a spider crawled out.

I think I would have fallen off the stepladder!

 

[DodgerGirl]

In my house the only time we have had smoke alarms go off is when my family takes hot showers and when the hot water gets really hot it causes our smoke alarms to go off a lot. And we have about five smoke alarms in our house one in the hallway one in my room one in my parents room and one in our kitchen and one in the living room. And what I recommend you to do is to call your landlord/landlady and ask if he/she can see if there's a problem with your smoke alarms. Does your smoke alarm also go off when a power outage occurs too?

 

[JLTraveling]

They can go off for any reason or no reason at all. I once lived in an apartment building that had previously been a large house. ALL the smoke detectors in the all apartments were connected to each other, and directly to the fire department. And they were super sensitive. So anytime somebody in the building burned toast or took an overly hot shower, the entire building would have to evacuate and wait for clearance from the fire department while all of the alarms were screeching.

I'd definitely try to clean it out and see if that solves the problem. If not, it can't hurt to replace at least the one that went off.

 

[prairie_girl]

Was there any steam? I used to live in an apartment where the shower would set off the smoke alarm. It was very annoying.

I was going to say this too. Our whole building will be triggered when it’s too hot outside. It’s already 37C (with humidity) outside so I expect them to go off at some point today.

It’s a real pain in the butt because my husband is in a wheelchair and the elevator stops working when the alarms go off so it’s a whole ordeal.