When my family and I moved into our first home a few years ago, one of the first things I did was install new smoke alarms on every floor.
Working for UL Standards & Engagement, my colleagues and I spend each day immersed in the world of safety — analyzing insights data on what consumers know about smoke alarms, closely monitoring news stories of fires where smoke alarms were or were not present, and publishing and updating standards that help to make smoke alarms safer and more effective for families.
I’ll admit — before starting at ULSE and thinking about smoke alarms from this perspective, I would have considered my knowledge of fire safety “average.” I trusted the old, yellowing smoke alarm in the hallway without ever thinking that it might be due for a replacement (all smoke alarms are after 10 years).
Now, I buy smoke alarms as gifts for friends and family.
Why You Should Give the Gift of Safety This Holiday Season
According to the 2025 ULSE Holiday Safety Guide, only 88% of holiday home cooks have some form of smoke alarm near the kitchen, and 35% admit to removing or disabling a smoke alarm at some point because of low battery chirps or nuisance alarms triggered by cooking smoke. Of that number, 7% say they never reactivated the alarms.
These numbers matter because seconds matter in the event of a home fire, and smoke alarms provide the earliest warning when escape is critical. According to UL Research Institutes, homeowners today have only three minutes or less to escape a home fire. If a smoke alarm or detector has been disabled due to a nuisance alarm, it cannot alert residents when it is needed most.
If you’re playing fire safety Santa this year, be sure to get your loved ones a smoke alarm that is certified to our standard, UL 217, which will reduce nuisance alarms from cooking smoke — and will also reduce the likelihood a user will disable it.
Video
Preventing False Alarms
Learn about the dangers of disabling a smoke alarm and how alarms certified to UL 217 can help reduce nuisance alarms.
Real Footage: ULSE Holiday Ethnographic Study
© 2025 ULSE / Video footage produced in partnership with Ipsos
Reaching Our Community — One Smoke Alarm at a Time
On November 5, ULSE, ULRI, and UL Solutions partnered with the American Red Cross of Illinois to share critical fire safety information and install 105 free smoke alarms for 32 families during a Sound the Alarm home fire safety event in Evanston, Illinois.
As a volunteer, I connected with many homeowners who shared some of the same thoughts I had years ago. Many had smoke alarms that were due for replacement, others had smoke alarms but needed a few more for better coverage in the home (you should have one on every floor and outside every sleeping area), and some had even disabled smoke alarms due to nuisance alarms and battery chirps. As we head into the holiday season, when the risk of cooking fires is highest, I’m thankful we were able to help make these households a little bit safer.
To learn more about how you can stay safe this holiday season, download the 2025 ULSE Holiday Safety Guide.
