Just a heads up.
If you want to keep your smoke detector from falsely alarming due to humidity, or going off while you blaze one, wrap a clean towel and a bag around it and tape that to the base of the detector. If you don't want to hear the sounder or see the flashing light, do the same thing with those devices.
Now, smoke detectors are something this doesn't always apply to because they can be independent detectors. Sounders, strobes, and other devices that let you know the fire alarm is going off from someone pulling an outside pull station however, this always applies to. The easy way to be sure whether this applies to your device, is to pull it down (do not disconnect any wires) just long enough to see if there are wires running into your wall/ceiling. If there's wires, it likely applies to you.
In apartment/condo buildings, the fire alarm devices in your unit are typically hooked to a central Fire Alarm Control Panel somewhere in the building. Now, everyone knows that fire alarms trigger when there's a fire, but what a lot of people don't realize is that (especially the newer) fire alarm systems monitor themselves and report missing devices either directly to a remote monitoring company, or via an audible (very loud and annoying) beep at the FACP.
In either case, if you tamper with the fire alarm stuff, there's a chance you will get an unexpected, and unavoidable, visit from a fire alarm technician who is escorted by your building's staff, whom carry apartment/condo keys... These guys are not easy to get rid of if you happen to be home either.
I was called out to an apartment complex the other day because a couple of teenagers thought it would be a good idea to pull down their smoke detector so they could hotbox a bedroom. Luckily for them all I did was hook their device back up and suggest they look for "something called Ozium" on my way out the door. They're lucky my partner stayed at the panel...
If you want to keep your smoke detector from falsely alarming due to humidity, or going off while you blaze one, wrap a clean towel and a bag around it and tape that to the base of the detector. If you don't want to hear the sounder or see the flashing light, do the same thing with those devices.
Now, smoke detectors are something this doesn't always apply to because they can be independent detectors. Sounders, strobes, and other devices that let you know the fire alarm is going off from someone pulling an outside pull station however, this always applies to. The easy way to be sure whether this applies to your device, is to pull it down (do not disconnect any wires) just long enough to see if there are wires running into your wall/ceiling. If there's wires, it likely applies to you.
In apartment/condo buildings, the fire alarm devices in your unit are typically hooked to a central Fire Alarm Control Panel somewhere in the building. Now, everyone knows that fire alarms trigger when there's a fire, but what a lot of people don't realize is that (especially the newer) fire alarm systems monitor themselves and report missing devices either directly to a remote monitoring company, or via an audible (very loud and annoying) beep at the FACP.
In either case, if you tamper with the fire alarm stuff, there's a chance you will get an unexpected, and unavoidable, visit from a fire alarm technician who is escorted by your building's staff, whom carry apartment/condo keys... These guys are not easy to get rid of if you happen to be home either.
I was called out to an apartment complex the other day because a couple of teenagers thought it would be a good idea to pull down their smoke detector so they could hotbox a bedroom. Luckily for them all I did was hook their device back up and suggest they look for "something called Ozium" on my way out the door. They're lucky my partner stayed at the panel...