Smoke Detectors: An Important Necessity

9/22/2016 (Permalink)

Smoke detectors are an important safety feature that should be in every building and may help reduce/prevent fire damage.  They can warn of possible smoke using two different types of methods.  The first method is optically.  If smoke particles inside the detector chamber scatter enough light for the sensor to notice, the alarm will sound.  The second method is through ionization.  This method uses positively and negatively charged surfaces along with a small radioactive element to detect particles like smoke.  The second method is more commonly used in the United States, mainly due to cost. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends testing smoke detectors once per month and changing their batteries twice a year.  A smoke alarm is useless if it malfunctions.  That is why it is important to test an alarm regularly and often. 

Unfortunately, many people fall victim to nuisance tripping.  This is when there is somewhat of a false alarm.  This includes situations such as minor smoke from burning a piece of toast or steam from a hot shower or bath.   This in turn causes many people to deactivate their alarms.  Most people do not realize that the nuisance tripping can be significantly cut down by switching types of alarms.  The ionization alarms tend to be triggered more frequently.  Photoelectric alarms react more effectively around the board than ionization alarms.  However, one of the many tests performed by Underwriters Laboratories did favor ionization alarms.  This was the “burnt toast” test also known as nuisance tripping.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends having both types of smoke detectors.  Smoke and fire damage should be taken seriously.  For information on the fire damage restoration process please refer to our SERVPRO website.