How to Avoid Setting Off Your Smoke Alarm When Cooking (And Why You Should Never Just Take Out the Batteries)

If you are one of the many Americans who can’t seem to cook anything without setting off the smoke alarm, don’t worry — it may not be your cooking.

In the fire industry, these false alarms are known as nuisance alarms — and though aptly named, they are more than just annoying. Nuisance alarms can actually be dangerous, as they often lead home chefs to disable the power sources from their smoke alarms, rendering them ineffective when they are actually needed most.

For this reason, we worked with a committee of fire and alarm industry experts, manufacturers, regulators, and other professionals, to ensure smoke alarms are designed and manufactured with improved sensing technology that can differentiate between cooking smoke and early signs of a home fire.

These requirements were published in the 8th edition (and subsequent editions) of UL 217, our Standard for Safety for Smoke Alarms.

In order to comply with UL 217, a smoke alarm must be able to pass professional laboratory testing in which it is subjected to real cooking smoke at a 10-foot distance from the source. Smoke obscuration and combustion particle buildup, or ionization, are monitored during these tests, and an alarm will not pass if it produces an alarm signal before they reach specified values.

OK, so how can I actually keep my smoke alarm from going off while cooking?

To keep your smoke alarm from going off while cooking, you may need to do one of two things:

1: Relocate your smoke alarm

The issue may be that your smoke alarm is simply too close to your oven or range. According to the National Fire Protection Association’s National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, NFPA 72, smoke alarms should not be installed between 10-20 ft along a horizontal flow path from a cooking appliance, unless listed for resistance to nuisance alarms in accordance with UL 217.

Additionally, NFPA 72 states that smoke alarms should not be installed within a 10 ft radius from a stationary or fixed cooking appliance, unless the space is not large enough to mount an alarm 10 ft away. In this case, smoke alarms are permitted within a 6-10 ft radius from the appliance if they comply with UL 217.

2: Replace your smoke alarm 

If your smoke alarm is mounted at an appropriate distance, but is still going off when you start cooking, it may be time to replace it. 

UL 217 requires manufacturers to mark smoke alarms with instructions to replace units when they reach the end of their service life. This life span can vary, but it is not to exceed 10 years. 

When shopping for a new smoke detector, be sure to buy one that is listed for resistance to nuisance alarms in accordance with UL 217. When installing, be sure to follow NFPA distance requirements, as well as the manufacturer-provided mounting instructions.

Do I even need a smoke alarm?

Yes, you should have a smoke alarm on every level of your home — within 21 ft of any door to a sleeping room, as well as in all sleeping rooms and guest rooms.

Smoke alarms provide the earliest warning of a home fire, and with only three minutes or less to escape, every second matters.

Watch the video below from our colleagues at the Fire Safety Research Institute to see how quickly fire can spread in a room with modern furnishings: