Find the Right Smoke Detector for Each Type of House Fire

In the event of a house fire, a smoke detector can save your life and the lives of your loved ones. They are the single most important means of life safety and protection in preventing home and apartment fire fatalities by providing an early warning signal-so you and your family can escape.

Installing and using the proper fire sensing device to detect smoke, heat or flames for specific areas in a home is critical for early warning detection. Often the homeowner has insufficient information to make to good choice of which type of smoke detector to use and exactly where to place that device. Here are the different types there are, how they work, and where you should place them in your home for fire prevention. Please remember-SMOKE DETECTORS SAVE LIVES!

IONIZATION SMOKE DETECTORS are best suited for rooms that contain highly combustible materials that can create flaming fires. This type of house fire is caused by flammable liquids, newspapers, and paint cleaning solutions. Ionization smoke detectors are generally found to be most useful around garages, furnace and boiler rooms, since these areas often emit “Black Smoke”.

PHOTOELECTRIC SMOKE DETECTORS should be installed in your family room, living room, offices, bedrooms and hallways. Simply stated, this is because these rooms often contain large pieces of furniture, such as sofas, chairs, mattresses, counter tops, etc. which will burn slowly and create more smoldering smoke than flames. Make certain that ALL the bedrooms have them and those smoke detectors are also located on the outside of the bedroom in those hallways.

FIXED TEMPERATURE HEAT SENSORS are the most common type of heat detectors. Fixed temperature detectors operate when the heat gets to a “fixed-temperature”, usually around 190°F.  This device will reach its operating temperature sometime after the surrounding air temperature exceeds that temperature. These will be generally found in garages, furnace rooms and boiler rooms.

RATE-OF-RISE HEAT DETECTORS operate on a rapid rise in temperature per minute. They can operate at a lower temperature fire condition than would be possible if the threshold were fixed. This type of house fire is most common in the kitchen.

All Smoke alarms and Heat Detectors have advantages and disadvantages. The most important fact is that having working smoke and heat detectors in your home save lives. If you can't decide (or know) which type to use in your home, or where to place it, call in a professional security and life safety professional to assist you in the design and the proper fire and smoke detection device to install to give you and your family the peace of mind knowing that your chances of survival in the event of a fire in your home will increase greatly, since it will give you that EARLY WARNING to save the lives of you and your loved ones from a potential tragedy.

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