Smoke Alarm Technology - FYI

[Ryan McLean]

I almost added this to the other Smoke Alarm conversation but decided to split it out.

October is national fire prevention month so I guess I'm a bit late to the party here.

I recently did a deep dive and came to the conclusion that Photoelectric (ONLY) smoke alarms are the way to go. When you start reading up on them it can be confusing, so here's all you need to know:

Photoelectric and Ionization alarms each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Photoelectric alarms are MUCH FASTER (Think minutes) at detecting smoldering fires--by and far the most common type in residential situations. Compared to Ionization alarms, they can be a bit slower at detecting certain types of fires.

Ionization alarms are a /bit/ faster (Think seconds) at detecting accelerant-fueled fires. They're also more prone to false alarms and thus more likely to have their batteries removed, etc.

Combination alarms are sold as the "Best" of both words but they are actually the "worst" of both worlds. If the logic is programmed so that Ionization OR Photoelectric sensor can trigger the alarm, then you still have all the false alarms of an Ionization alarm. If the sensor logic is programmed such that the Ionization AND Photoelectric sensors must trigger to trip the alarm, you have eliminated the false alarms of Ionization but you've also negated the improvements of the photoelectric technology. The alarm is truly only as good as its weakest link. You have no real way of knowing what logic the manufacturer went with, or whether their algorithm/logic will work out in your favor in your (theoretical) fire.

In the end, I know the saying that there are "lies, damn lies, and statistics"...but when I looked at the numbers I felt confident trading 10-15 seconds of theoretical alert time in a theoretically rare situation for 90+ seconds of theoretical alert time in the more common type of fire situation.

¢02.

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