A Dunedin man with a disease which restricts his movement is certain the high-pitched scream of a long-life smoke alarm will alert him if a fire is burning in his state home.
About a fortnight ago, the four nine-volt smoke alarms in the Caversham state house of Dillon Maydon were replaced with sealed alarms with a 10-year battery life.
Mr Maydon (23) has Friedreich's ataxia, a rare disease that causes nervous system damage and affects his balance and co-ordination.
"It would be hard for me to run if there's a fire.''
He felt "safer'' with the new alarms installed, especially after the fire at 660 Castle St on Saturday, where firefighters found smoke alarms in a cupboard.
The old alarms often sounded when friends were cooking for him, or at 4am when the batteries were becoming flat.
The new alarms were easier to test than the old alarm.
"It makes a louder noise than the old fire alarm - a lot louder. It will definitely wake me up.''
Housing New Zealand chief operating officer Paul Commons said the project to replace 275,000 nine-volt alarms with longer-lasting units since February.
The new alarms were sealed and needed less maintenance and were less prone to tampering, he said.
"The technology in these new alarms also means they're better able to detect both slow-burning and fast-flaming fires.''
Many components of the old alarms would be recycled, he said.
Housing New Zealand spokesman Glenn Conway said there were 2031 state houses in the Southern region.
Nearly 600 state houses in Dunedin, Invercargill and Timaru had 2639 new alarms installed by May 8, he said.
"The nationwide rollout of new long-life smoke alarms continues at pace.''
The cost for the alarms could not be revealed because of a confidential contractual arrangement with suppliers.
New Zealand Fire Service spokesman Todd O'Donoghue said the new photo-electric alarms were the most reliable smoke alarms available.
He commended Housing New Zealand for installing the alarms and its promise of checking them every six months.
