SMOKE ALARMS

An acquaintance of mine back in Mactan where I lived quite recently lost his house and all his possessions to a Fire last Wednesday (they had no insurance) all four of the family managed to get out and are OK, it was said; a faulty Fridge had started the fire.
My first thought on this was smoke alarms, it is likely they are a fitting not often used here, due to the mostly open plan design here of Kitchen/ Living areas in the one big room, deep frying and smoking toasters can set them off, they really need to be fitted outside of the Kitchen.
This open plan design never made much sense to me in the first place, cookers create a lot of heat, the cooking smells get right into the soft fabrics in the living area, if using AC you will need a big unit to cool the large area, if it is two storey and has internal stairs that doubles up the problem, plus it acts as a chimney to a fire.

The build Quality is about as bad as it gets here? the use of non insulating materials CHB and concrete, plus the standard design of houses here with nice looking dark roofs to absorb the sunlight, leave a lot to be desired, they are only good to serve as a bad example to house building. Oh! and one other thing I hear so many people here almost boasting about how many 2HP AC units they have and their P12K electric bill? then they say when they are gone they are leaving their ASAWA a nice house to live in, how can they afford to run and live in that very house?

What is the answer to the above problem? well I am no expert in construction; but I can see that building a small house 85 square metres can accommodate three bedrooms kitchen and living room with 2 CR's, separate small rooms perhaps no more that 3 square metres for each room, and if there is a need for AC 1/2HP is sufficient, use EVG insulated panels to construct the outer walls or some form of insulation on the inside if using CHB, white roofs to reflect the sunlight and thick insulation in the attic, SMOKE alarms can be fitted in the adjacent hall or room to the Kitchen, there is so many benefits in running a smaller house, easy to clean, and much cheaper to run and more affordable for a surviving young Widow when we are not here.

I have lived in a few different rented houses here but each and every one of them has been a night storage heater in reverse, heating up during the day and giving off that heat at night, Hoots Mon! some folks here ur jist naw richt in the heid?
Dave

 

I have two houses, small one bedroom sala and kitchen with CR and the other a three storey, 3 bedroom with 4 bathrooms large sala, dinning room and kitchen.
The small one is really warm and needs an air-con.

The large 3 bedroom is the coolest that don't need air-con, because it was designed in a way to let natural air flow through the house. Before anyone builds a house, make sure you do your homework first. saved a fortune on Electric bills and still saving.

Be smart do your design to save money on Electric bills.

 

I do not recall ever seeing smoke detectors/alarms in use in the homes there. It could be they had them and I just didn't notice. Come to think of it, I don't recall installing them in the house we had built in Candau-Ay. Here in the U.S. I have 4 in my home, however.......

 

I have 3 in my rented home - bought them from Lazada. I have never tested them with smoke, which is really bad of me, but seeing this post has reminded me to do that.

And remember, folks, it is often the smoke that kills - so have a way out planned, emergency lights installed, crawl on the floor, cover your mouth, get out quickly (no going back for that SM in the fridge!)

 

Of course a good design will save money with regard to insulation etc, however the standard (there is none!) of electrical wiring etc here in PP must be responsible for many house fires. I paid extra ++ to have all sockets wired with earth connection and Dist board was UK standard with RCD protection. Smoke alarms sound a good cheap safeguard, I'll bring some out and fit next time. Electrical appliances here are Micky Mouse and leaving anything switched on when not in use is not a good idea.

 

Agree with everyone; a well constructed house should be your one and only goal if you are building and I can not get off the soap box about a properly grounded system and GFCI or RCB breakers where required.

If renting it is what it is for the most part. Smoke detectors can be hardwired to your 220 source with battery back-up or just battery powered. Depending on what codes you are accustomed to, they are either placed in the bedrooms or just outside of the bedrooms. Keep away from kitchens and CRs (steam or cooking smoke can cause nuisance alarms).

I'm onboard with the OP on a smaller footprint for a house. There are a few DI members that have been to my house and the living room, kitchen, 2 of the bedrooms and CR are smaller than most Western folks would be accustomed to. The master bedroom and master CR is more in line with what most folks would want. We do have the second floor area that makes things seem a bit larger when you look at the square footage but it is mostly an open area without any cooling.

For appliances and such (mentioned by Dave about the faulty fridge)...geckos shorting things out and mice chewing wiring is a constant problem. I deal with geckos as I think in general they are more helpful than not. With mice and rats it is a totally different story...our dogs kill some but they are sneaky little things. I'm heavy on trapping them when home but unfortunately that goes to the wayside a bit when I'm not.

Shawn

 

They don't usually have smoke alarms or home insurance in the Philippines.

 

We actually had home owner's insurance on our home in Dumaguete.

 

My biggest fear with a fire is the bars on the windows, can be difficult to escape the fire

 

Just go through the roof. Its quite easy in the average house here. That's how criminals get in when there are bars on the window. There's usually just a bit of Hardiflex and some tin to go through unless you are in a furiner house where they actually insulate.