Heat alarms

Every kitchen in your home should have at least one heat alarm fitted and linked to your smoke alarms. 

Heat alarms are ideal for kitchens, the number one location for house fires.

• They are not activated by smoke, fumes or dust
• They are activated by heat
• They give you early warning of a cooking fire.  If a cooking fire breaks out in your kitchen the heat alarm is likely to alert you before any smoke alarms in your home.
• They can also be used in garages, boiler rooms, lofts and other areas where there are normally high levels of fumes, smoke or dust
• The can help you avoid false nuisance alarms caused by cooking fumes for example frying food or burning toast
• They only cover a relatively small area of a room, so potentially several heat alarms need to be installed in a large kitchen.

Even if you have working smoke alarms throughout your home, fitting a heat alarm in the kitchen is a great additional safety measure.

General cooking

• Make sure your home has working smoke alarms and at least one heat alarm in every kitchen
• Make sure your cooker is or has been fitted properly by a qualified fitter
• Keep your oven, cooker and grill clean and make sure there’s no fat on it
• Keep tea towels, cloths and kitchen paper away from the cooker
• Keep fats and oils away from the cooker
• Cook with handles turned to the side to avoid them spilling
• Use a flameless lighter on gas cookers instead of matches or a lighter

You should never:

• Hang or dry clothing and towels on or near the cooker
• Leave your cooker, grill or oven on when you go out – even on a timer
• Leave electrical wires or cords near the cooker
• Keep anything on top of an eye-level grill
• Put anything metal in your microwave – even tin foil