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Smoke detectors were originally developed for the prevention of fire outbreaks in industrial buildings suc… More
Smoke detectors save thousands of lives and houses every year. By sounding an alarm, they give families en… More
Smoke alarms detect smoke when smoke comes into contact with them, so placing them in high areas in the li… More
A smoke alarm uses a circuit board and works when smoke enters the sensing chamber, setting off a loud, au… More
The two types of smoke alarms are the photoelectric smoke alarm and the ionization smoke alarm, each of wh… More
A home should have a smoke alarm on every level, and each bedroom should have a smoke alarm that is close … More
Installing a smoke detector is done by mounting it high on a wall, at least four to 12 inches away from th… More
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Troubleshooting smoke alarms can be done by checking the batteries, vacuuming it out regularly, placing th… More
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A house fire alarm should be tested at least once a month, and all of the batteries should be changed twic… More
You've just about finished preparations for that big dinner party and the smoke alarm in the hall begins s… More
A study by the National Fire Protection Association reports that over three-quarters of all fire related d… More
Smoke detectors are invaluable for early fire alert and survival. The Burn Institute reports smoke detecto… More
According to the National Fire Protection Association, smoke alarms should be installed in every bedroom, … More
Summary: The two types of smoke alarms are the photoelectric smoke alarm and the ionization smoke alarm, each of which works better for a different type of fire. Find out which smoke alarms are best to use with helpful tips from a fire and life safety educator in this free video on fire safety.
Meg Langston is the full-time community fire and life safety educator for the Wilmington Fire Department. She is responsible for coordinating educational efforts throughout the city.read more
"There are two types of smoke alarms. There is an ionization smoke alarm and a photo electric smoke alarm. Your ionization smoke alarm is going to be the general smoke alarm you find in most homes today. This smoke alarm has been around for a while. It is going to be the one that home manufacturers or most home builders are going to install when you are building homes so you are going to see ionization a lot and ionization smoke alarms are smoke alarms that respond to a flaming fire so it is going to be probably a fast moving fire that has a lot of flame, not as much smoke. So those are going to be your kitchen fires, fires that start from something that already is aflame so whether it is a fire that starts from your fire place or a fire that starts from a candle, these are going to be great ways for ionization smoke alarms to work. The other type of smoke alarm is a photo electric smoke alarm and a photo electric smoke alarm responds to a smoldering fire so these are not going to be as fast moving fires. These are going to be the fires that kind of start small and start to progress but they put off a lot of smoke and what you are going to find generally are that these are fires that are started by cigarettes or just like a small ember that actually starts the fire and it is usually going to be something like a cigarette that is dropped on the edge of the couch and it just sits there and smolders for a little while before the fire really starts to get large and a photo electric smoke alarm is going to pick up to that. So we get the question all the time of which smoke alarm should I have in my house. Should I have a photo electric or should I have an ionization? We recommend that you put one of each up and you don't have to have twelve smoke alarms in your house, two at every location for each height but we do recommend like in your hallway that you have an ionization and a photo electric. Most of your manufacturers or your home builders are going to put up your ionization so just go in and supplement with a photo electric in different places throughout your house."
eHow Article: Types of Smoke Alarms
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