Smoke Detector, How To Choose The Best

A small fire in your home can quickly fill your home with noxious smoke. It’s critical that you select the correct smoke detector for your home, have them properly installed and perform regular tests on.

Residential smoke detectors come in two types, one is photoelectric, and the other is an ionization detector. With a photoelectric detector, light is beamed into a chamber that contains a photocell. Smoke goes into the chamber, which then scatters light, allowing some of the light to reach a photocell and set off the alarm. Smoldering fires tend to set off photoelectric detectors faster than flaming fires.

Ionization detectors use radiation that ionizes (breaks up) the air inside the unit, and gives it a small electrical charge. When smoke enters this detector, the current is lowered and sets off the alarm.

Which type of detector works best? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Many of today’s photoelectric smoke detector are wired into your homes electrical system. This means that if there is a power outage, you will not be protected. Units that use ionization normally run on house current and have a battery for backup. They do however have a somewhat higher numner of false alarms. The best of both worlds is to use ionization and photoelectric in different areas of your home.

A general rule is to have a minimum of one smoke detector for every level of your home. You should also keep these guidelines in mind:

Do not install smoke detectors close to the kitchen, furnace, garage, or just outside a bathroom door. Try not to install a smoke detector in an area where there may not be enough circulation, i.e. corners. Install each smoke alarm on a ceiling or on a wall roughly 8 to 10 inches below the ceiling.

smoke alarms should be tested on a monthly basis. The vast majority of models have a simple button to push that makes this a cinch. If you don’t see a test button, simply light a candle, blow out the flame, and hold the smoking wick about 6 inches below the detector. The smoke should set off the alarm.

Replace the batteries in battery-powered smoke detectors annually, on a date that you can easily remember such as your birthday, or the day you set your clocks back. When you are performing this you can also clean the inside and vent openings of the detector which will help the reliability.