beatthefire

This blog is dedicated to providing information on managing fire outbreaks and security in the home

Friday, June 01, 2007

WHAT IS A SMOKE ALARM?

smoke alarms








A smoke alarm is a gadget, often installed on the cieling, that senses a space for heat, smoke, and/or flaming fire and sounds an alarm if it senses any of the agents.

Smoke alarms are based on two main technologies. They are the Ionisation smoke alarms and the Optical smoke alarms.

IONISATION SMOKE ALARMS

These smoke alarms are the most popular. Ionisation smoke alarms are more sensitive to flaming fire and are quite affordable.



smoke alarms







OPTICAL SMOKE ALARMS

Optical smoke alarms are more sensitive to slow burning fires or overheating in electric wirings. They are also more reliable as they have fewer false alarms.

Optical smoke alarms and ionisation smoke alarms have their strengths and weaknessses. Hence it is common practice to instal both types of smoke alarms for better protection.

However, today there are smoke alarms that combine both ionisation and optical smoke alarms in the same gadget.

Now that you know what a smoke alarm is dont you think you need one?