Guide
Stove safety for multifamily properties
Cooking is the leading cause of apartment fires, and for property owners that means displaced residents, damaged units, and downtime. This guide covers why cooking fires are so hard to manage across many units, what a property-wide solution needs, and how to protect every stove without a camera in anyone's home.
Protect every unit, from one screen.
The problem
Cooking fires are the leading cause of apartment fires
Across multifamily housing, cooking is the number one cause of fires, and the stove is at the center of it. A single unattended burner can mean a displaced resident, a damaged unit, and costly downtime for the property. Multiply that across a portfolio and it becomes a real and recurring cost. Cooking causes an estimated 72 percent of fires in apartments and other multifamily homes.
The challenge
Why it is hard to manage across many units
You cannot supervise a resident's stove, and you cannot predict who is at risk. A building can hold seniors, students, families, and people living alone, each with different habits, and turnover is constant. Any solution has to protect every unit on its own, without staff in the kitchen and without invading residents' privacy.
What to look for
What a property-wide solution needs
- Per-unit protection that acts on its own, without staff present
- Central visibility, so a small team can see every unit at once
- Remote control, to disable and lock a stove in an emergency
- No camera, to protect resident privacy
- Simple install at scale, with no electrician or rewiring
- Works for every resident type, from seniors to students
Our approach
How CTS protects a whole property
A CTS Smart Kitchen Sensor in each unit watches for unattended or dangerous cooking using thermal sensing, not a camera, warns the resident with voice and lights, and with the CTS Power Cutoff shuts the stove off on its own if no one responds. Your team sees every unit at once on the CTS Multi Sensor Dashboard, with live stove state, alerts, and one-click controls to disable and lock a stove, one unit or building-wide, during an emergency. Each unit installs in minutes with no electrician, and because there is no camera, resident privacy is protected. The same system fits apartments, affordable and senior housing, and student housing alike.
Common questions
Multifamily stove safety, answered
How can property managers reduce cooking fires in apartments?
Put an automatic stove safety device in each unit and manage them centrally. A CTS Smart Kitchen Sensor watches each stove, warns the resident, and shuts the stove off on its own if cooking is left unattended, while your team sees and controls every unit from one dashboard.
Can we monitor stoves across many units?
Yes. The CTS Multi Sensor Dashboard shows every unit in a property with its live stove state, alerts, and one-click controls, so a small team can keep watch over a whole building or portfolio.
Does it require rewiring or an electrician in each unit?
No. Each unit installs in minutes. The sensor mounts above the stove with 3M Command strips and the CTS Power Cutoff plugs into the unit's existing 240V electric outlet. No electrician or rewiring.
How does it protect resident privacy?
The sensor uses thermal sensing only, with no camera, and never records video or audio. Residents keep their privacy while the property reduces its fire risk.
Can staff shut off a stove remotely in an emergency?
Yes. From the dashboard, staff can disable and lock a stove, one unit or building-wide, for example during a fire alarm or a vacant unit, and unlock it just as quickly.
Does it work for student and senior housing too?
Yes. The same system fits apartments, affordable housing, senior living, and student housing. It protects any resident type without needing to know in advance who is at risk.
See it across your properties
Book a walkthrough with our team using scenarios from your portfolio.