Working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are the cheapest life-safety upgrade in any home, and in Ontario they are also the law. Under the Ontario Fire Code, every home must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas, and a carbon monoxide alarm near sleeping areas if the home has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Renovations, additions and new construction trigger stricter requirements for hardwired, interconnected alarms. We install and upgrade hardwired smoke and CO detectors throughout Toronto and the GTA. Hardwired alarms run off your home's power with a battery backup, and when they are interconnected, one alarm sensing smoke sets off every alarm in the house, so you hear it from the far bedroom, not just the basement. Whether you are replacing aging units, adding alarms after a renovation, or wiring a whole home to current code, we make sure your alarms are the right type, in the right locations, and properly interconnected. As a licensed and insured contractor, we do the wiring to the Ontario Electrical Safety Code and confirm everything works before we leave.
What's included
- Hardwired smoke alarm installation on every storey and outside sleeping areas
- Carbon monoxide alarm placement near bedrooms and fuel-burning equipment
- Interconnection so all alarms sound together when one is triggered
- Combination smoke/CO units where appropriate to reduce ceiling clutter
- Battery-backup units so alarms keep working during a power outage
- Replacement of expired alarms (most units expire 7-10 years from manufacture)
- Running new wiring and interconnect cable through finished or open ceilings
- Testing every alarm and confirming the interconnect chain works
Signs you may need this service
- Your alarms chirp, fail a test, or are over 10 years old
- Detectors are battery-only and not interconnected with each other
- You have no CO alarm despite a furnace, gas stove, fireplace or attached garage
- A renovation, addition or new bedroom now requires hardwired alarms
- Missing alarms on a storey, in a basement, or outside a sleeping area
- A home inspection or insurer flagged the smoke or CO alarm coverage
How it works / what to expect
We start by walking the home to map where alarms are legally required and where coverage is missing, on every storey, outside each sleeping area, and near fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage for CO. We confirm whether your situation calls for hardwired interconnected units or whether code-compliant wireless-interconnected battery alarms are appropriate. For hardwired work we run power and interconnect cable to each location, mount and connect the alarms, and tie them into a circuit. Then we test every device, trigger one alarm to confirm the whole chain sounds together, and walk you through the test and silence buttons. Most replacement and upgrade jobs are completed in a single visit with minimal disruption.
Cost factors in the GTA
Costs vary with the number of alarms and how easy the wiring runs are, so we quote after understanding your layout. Replacing existing hardwired units one-for-one is the most affordable scenario. Adding new locations costs more because we run cable, which is quick in an open basement or attic but slower behind finished drywall and ceilings. The number of storeys, the alarm type (smoke, CO, or combination), and whether units need to be interconnected all factor in. We use quality, current-code alarms and give an honest quote up front. We will also tell you honestly when reliable battery-interconnected alarms are a code-compliant and cheaper option for your situation.
Serving the whole GTA
We provide smoke & co detector installation across the Greater Toronto Area. Find your city for local service, or call (289) 799-3802.