Placement of 2nd floor CO/Smoke Alarm

[Bjferri]

I want to get this right because I'm hardwiring it.

I have a 1920 craftsman colonial. The 2nd floor has 1 bathroom and 3 bedrooms. The steps leading up to the 2nd floor leads to the 1st landing (3' x 4') then a sharp right with 3 more steps that lead to the 2nd floor landing
( 5' x 7'). The ceiling above the 5 x 7 landing has an attic pull down steps with a strong attic fan that comes on with heat/humidistat. I sometimes leave the attic door opened a little so the attic fan can suck the heat out of the house and create a little breeze. The pull-down steps are sort of in the middle of the ceiling of that landing in which the 3 bedrooms are off of. If I place it near a bedroom, it will be next to the attic door - I don't know a way around this. The ceiling area near the bathroom is 3.5' away from the attic door but I read not to place it w/i 3 feet of a bathroom. If I place it in the ceiling area above the 1st landing which is far enough away from the bathroom, and attic but is it too far from the bedrooms? Any suggestions?

 

[Jadnashua]

As I understand it, while maybe annoying, current code calls for one in EACH bedroom. The idea being, that it would be closer to where people who need to hear it will be, especially with a long hallway and maybe closed doors. With access to the attic, it shouldn't be too difficult to run wires to each room.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bjferri]

Eventually I will put one in each bedroom and access from the attic makes this a snap. But, I still need one on the 2nd floor, outside the bedrooms and I have to do this first.

 

[Jadnashua]

Most of them list the ceiling as the preferred location, but an alternative is high up on a wall. See the device's documentation for the suggested positions (you can likely find these online). If you don't have a good place on the ceiling, like when your attic access steps get in the way, this may be the next best thing.

 

[Bjferri]

Thanks...I'll look for wall installation...

 

[Jadnashua]

Basically, they don't want you to put it into a corner which would potentially delay the response time...the instructions give the details of how and it should be mounted.