Hi, We own a 3 bedroom house in a beautiful location near Ra...
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Hi, We own a 3 bedroom house in a beautiful location near Raniket in Uttarakhand, India. We have never done this before, so a...
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@Dionne70
I would also suggest starting with your local fire department and local codes.
I have a legal STR that is inspected yearly by our fire department. So to me that's just the start.
In addition to that I have my own personal experience that is unique in that I have been renting a STR for 6 years now with guest from all over the world including the UK and surrounding countries.
Residents of guest being trapped on the second floor when a fire breaks out can be a risk. The most critical component is the smoke or fire detectors.
These are exteremely inexpensive and a place where I would suggest going above and beyond any local codes. In my experiance the Nest Protect is almost always rates as the best Smoke/CO detector for STRs. But there are other ones. The key function is that the communicate with each other so when one goes off they all go off at the same time.
Some of the benifits of the Nest is that it test itself daily. It would notify on the app and on the devices themselves if there is any malfution. They actually emit a tiny sound to make sure the alarm part is working also.
Our fire department retires additional monthy tests to be kept in specific format.
The reason for this is that smok detectors routinely malfunction. So need redundancy (more than one so if one fails the others will work)
The kind of sensor and the placement of the individual detectors is also important. Each kind of sensor has unique characteristics. As some have mentioned heat sensors for the kitchen area is primarily used to reduce false alarms from smoke from cooking.
Some are more prone to false alarms from humidity. So placing them over 6 feet from a bathroom and shower area is a good idea, unless you want false alarms every time people take showers, and this may not be an issue at all if its low humidity anyway.
Some areas are also much more humid that others. So even leaving the door open could cause false alarms depending on the technology and kind of sensor.
Some are better at detecting smoldering fires while others are better at detecting fires that are big.
With the Nest it has a feature called Nightly Protect and when the lights are turned off it will turn green for like 5 seconds. I was concerned guest may think this is some kind of monitoring device but so far no one has mentioned it and I think they realize the green light is a good sign and actually like knowing the smoke and CO detectors are working.
This is just my opinion but a doorway separating the kitchen area in a Victorian house isn't going to offer much protection by itself. It would need to be coupled with smoke detectors that would alert people in the bedrooms that a fire had started. Placing them in the hallways would also help as most people would wake up with one in the hallway but if a roaring fire has already getten going in the kitchen there would very little time to escape.
The first Smoke/Co detectors I got were about $90 each and were all interconnected via radio frequency. At the time our fire department and codes didn't require they be connected. Also if one went off they all went off, but if one is malfunctioning and prone to false alarms, which happneed, it was difficult to know which one it was. I noticed it when guest were checking out so would leave the door open which let in humidity so replaced both of them in the rental area. It's a guest apartment with a wall between us that insulted and fire rated. This worked. But when testing them before an inspection one of the new ones didn't work that was less than a year old.
With the Nest it lets me know which alarm was activated and will verbally say "Fire, Fire, Fire, Front Kitchen" if it's the one in the front kitchen. If it was in the guest bedroom, it would say "In guest bedroom" So everyone would know the location of the fire.
Not a single false alarm ether. Constantly monitoring itself, connected to the app, monitors the battery or back up battery.
Once again meeting all local codes and inspections is the best start.
But just google "Fire kills family at Airbnb" and see the results.
You want alarms going off as soon as there is a hint of smoke in a rental unit.
I just googled it.
The owner of the STR that killed two daughters just pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the fire at the STR rental in the Haptons killed two sisters. They were also sleeping on the second floor and didn't escape. I remember this one. It started in an outdoor kitchen that was recent addition on the deck. And the sisters were trapped on the second floor. Their brother managed to jump out of a window. Just going by memory so may be worth the time to read.
https://nypost.com/2024/08/28/us-news/owner-of-popular-hamptons-summer-rental-pleads-guilty-to-homic...
I'm from Charleston so fires in historic houses are part of it. Recently a college college student died in a fire, was in bedroom on the second floor, fire started in the kitchen area on the first floor. Her father actually bought the house for her daughter to live in and there was no working smoke alarm, so she was trapped in the bedroom. He wanted to have the house razed and turned into a park, but the city woudn't allow it as its was a historic house, they all are, similar to Victorian, and lots of Victorians.
Just Google. Here is allotter one from last month.
https://people.com/mass-mother-and-her-1-year-old-baby-die-in-airbnb-fire-after-owners-allegedly-lie...
For my listing I go strictly by our local codes for STR. The fire department said a counter cook top or even an oven would be fine, but the local codes don't allow it. My insurance provider (the underwriter happens to be UK based) also woudn't take issue with a counter cooktop (hob) but if there is a fire I would be in violation of local codes.
I also don't have grills or any kind of fires. Other host who stay with me even ones that use different hosting platform ask me if I think an outdoor fire pit would be a hazard. I say yes. She was based up in Michigan and her guest wanted that but just not worth the risk in our opinion, so this is something host discuss.
So each listing is unique. But as a host I think host should be much more vigilant about fire safety.
If you can find a professional who really understands them and can go above and beyond local codes, it would still be relatively inexpensive. It's also not that diffucit to set up an array of them that would detect smoke or flames as soon as the fire start and alert everyone in the dwelling that would allow ample time to escape.
My fire inspector said the Nest were great as they also provide an emergency light and all go off at the same time. I took the opportunity to chat with them as I often am prone to do even though it's annoying to most poeple. They didn't seem too concerned about false alarms, but I did ask them if they respond to false alarms on a regular bases, and they exclaimed a huge yes. So it's a good idea to take that into conservation espically if they charge a fee to show up. It would be better to invest more time and effort into a more robust system that very good at detecting fires, and ability to minimize false alarms. Hence I included my exerance, and wasn't that much to replace them all. The local codes have also improved and now require them to be all connected.
This is the spread sheet I keep with monthly test. Also need to check date it was manufactured.
Smoking is also out of the question. Guest could start a fire then file a lawsuit.
For me the risk isn't worth it so extremely proactive when it comes to fire safety while I'm hosting.
Host online who participate in Airbnb discussion can also have a double standard. They will say to one host, why do you post to a forum with host from all over if you don't want feedback from host from all over? Then say in the next post, say to ignore all other input from any host if they aren't a certified expect from your specific area.
It is possible to do both. You also can't be too careful when it comes to hosting with Airbnb guest. I've had guest from all over.
I'm planning next year being my last hosting. Fire risk is a major concern. Other host, even ones who smoke, comments makes me more inclined to stop hosting as soon as possible.
Hope that helps and wish you the best!
