Install at least one smoke alarm on every floor of your home, including the basement and outside each sleeping area. Smoke alarms should also be installed in sleeping rooms, especially if you sleep with the doors closed. New home construction now require hard wired smoke detectors in each sleeping room in addition to each level of the home. If someone in the home is hearing impaired, install alarms that flash a strobe light as well as the audible alarm. Where and how to install.
Smoke rises, so mount alarms high on a wall or on the ceiling.
To wall mount, position the alarm 5 to 12 inches from the ceiling. In stairways without doors at the top or bottom, place the detector anywhere along the path smoke would take, observing the previously stated two rules. In stairways, such as those from a basement that have a closed door at the top of the stairs, mount the smoke alarm at the bottom of the stairway. Dead air trapped near the door at the top of the stairway could prevent the smoke from reaching the alarm. DO NOT install smoke alarms near a window, door or forced-air register where drafts could interfere with its operation.