Ok, so thinking about the new house...how many smoke detectors should I have?

1 just outside the bedrooms
1 in the kitchen (though wouldn't it go off all of the time?
1 in the basement by the fireplace
1 in the basement by the furnance
1 in the garage

is that too many? not enough?

1 carbon monoxide detector in the furance room

1 fire extinguisher in the garage
1 fire extinguisher in the kitchen

 

are you going to be able to hear it in the furnace room? A carbon monoxide detector should be easily heard as you will not be able to know any other way...

Of course its good to hear a fire detector but there are signs of a fire other than just the noise....

As for the kitchen, I would say place it just outside the kitchen. Close enough so if something burns it will go off, but not directly above the stove.
My house has the smoke detector about 15 feet away from the stove, in a small hallway to the bathroom. (not really a hallway, just not part of the kitchen.) If you burn a steak everyone will know.

 

A smoke detector near the entrance to each bedroom should suffice. The CO detector should be in the living area. You can never have too many extinguishers.