It's a scary thought - what if your house caught fire and you and your family were trapped with no escape from the inferno? You probably think that it will never happen to you, but what if you are wrong? I shudder at the thought but as I look around my house I know that I have given my family a better chance of survivng a house fire.

I have installed smoke detectors in every room and in strategic places. Close to electrical equipment, but the one in the kitchen is far enough away from my cooker to avoid it going off by mistake. That chirping sound has cost many lives because it's so annoying that the batteries get removed and owners forget to replace them.

However, I absolutely do need a smoke detector in the kitchen because I've got this bad habit of over cooking things. Yes my cooking is that bad. I get cought up doing something and forget that I've got a pan on the hob or something under the grill. I've been very lucky not to burn the house down with my forgetfulness and am always relieved when summer arrives because I can make less risky salads.

My detectors are placed high up, but at least 6 inches from the ceiling as recommended. I got myself one of those little stepping stools to make it easier to check my units. Yes I check them at least once a month, often more. Batteries don't last forever and what if the unit closest to a fire starting point fails to go off just because your battery is a dud and you forgot to check? By the time the further away alarms go off it may be too late, and all because of a low cost battery.

I discovered another reason to check and that is because once on my routine rounds my hallway alarm wouldn't go off even though the battery was quite new. After pressing the test button several times I took it down and found that it worked if I held the battery in place but not when I let go. As the smoke alarm had almost reached the end of it's 10 year lifetime I immediately ordered it's replacement online.

I got a First Alert Photoelectric battery operated smoke alarm that has a sealed in longlife lithium battery that should last 10 years, or the guaranteed lifetime of the detector. The manaufacturers recommend weekly testing despite having a 10 year guarantee. By this they are reinforcing how important it is to make regular checks that can save lives.

I like this model and might get one for my kitchen. Its Photoelectric "Optical" technology is supposed to help reduce the annoying chirping caused by cooking smoke and steam. It also has a hush button for those nuisance alarms. This model also gives out a low battery warning in time for you to buy a replacement.

Apart from smoke detectors I have a fire blanket in a kitchen drawer, and a small extinguisher -  just in case. I'm considering buying a rope ladder for upstairs. I don't want us to escape out of an upstairs window and the only option be for us to jump.

I think that I've got our safety from fires pretty well covered, but no matter what I will continue to check our smoke detectors at least once a month. At any sign of a problem I will get straight on to the Internet and order new units, it really is better to be safe than to be sorry.