My parents do not currently have a smoke alarm at their house, because the one they had was in their kitchen and went off every time they cooked. Obviously they know this is not safe, and it worries me as well. I would like someone’s advice as to the type of alarm most appropriate to fit. Their house is very small, so one alarm would be enough for them to hear from every room.

I would recommend a heat detector in the kitchen as this would not cause false alarms from cooking fumes, I would also suggest an optical sensor in the hallway/living room downstairs as the heat alarm in the kitchen on its own will not detect a fire in any of the other rooms.