Home & Garden · Maintenance planning
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm planning checklist
Put listed smoke alarms on each level and near sleeping rooms, add CO alarms where fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage exist, and replace units when the date on the back says so.
Listed alarms, dated, and heard at night
Plan at least one listed smoke alarm on every level, inside each sleeping room, and in the hall outside sleeping rooms, which is the pattern NFPA explains for the public. Add listed CO alarms if you have fuel-burning appliances, a fireplace, or an attached garage. Confirm the exact spots with the instructions in the box and your local code. This page will not give you inch measurements to install against.
Who this is for
Households making a shopping and replacement list. Electricians or alarm companies should do interconnected hardwired work.
Planning checklist
- Count levels and sleeping rooms.
- Read the manufacture date on each existing alarm. Many units expire at 10 years for smoke and sooner for some CO sensors. The back of the unit is the source, not this sentence.
- Test with the button monthly. Put that on the seasonal walk.
- Do not cover an alarm with a smart-home project from the setup plan.
Limits
If an alarm chirps or you smell gas, follow the gas utility’s emergency instructions and leave if they tell you to. This site cannot dispatch help. Placement rules differ for local amendments. Ask the fire authority if you are unsure.
Questions readers ask
Can a smart sensor replace a smoke alarm?
Only if it is specifically listed as a smoke alarm and installed the way that listing requires. A temperature sensor is not a smoke alarm.
Sources and methodology
Claims that depend on an outside authority are tied to the references below. Product details change. Confirm the current specification sheet before you buy or install anything.
- Smoke alarms — NFPA (standards body), accessed September 20, 2026. Public education on where households are commonly advised to have smoke alarms. Local code still governs.
- Carbon monoxide information — CPSC (government), accessed September 20, 2026. Used for the presence of CO risk around fuel-burning equipment, not for placement measurements.
Parent topic: Home & Garden