Don't Let Your House Go Up In Flames; Use One Of These Smoke Detectors
According to the National Fire Protection Association, in the year 2013, 369,500 home fires were reported resulting in 2,755 deaths and 12,200 injuries. Every home should have at least one smoke detector and more if you have two stories. When you start shopping for smoke detectors for your home, you will quickly find there are different types you can choose from. This can make it difficult to know what would be best for you. To give you some help, below are three types you will find.
Photoelectric Smoke Detectors
This type of smoke detector has small internal light beams. When the beams detect smoke, they reflect back into the smoke detector, and an alarm will then sound. This type of smoke detector has a quick response to a fire in its early stages, which means you can likely get out of your house before it bursts into flames.
Ionization Smoke Detectors
This type of smoke detector uses an internal electrical current. When smoke enters the detector and the electrons detect the smoke, the alarm will go off. This is the oldest type of smoke detector you will find, and it can be very sensitive, which means it will often give false alarms, such as due to a smoky kitchen because of burning food. This will result in you turning off the smoke alarm to stop it from sounding. The problem with this is, you may forget to turn it back on once the smoke clears. Because of this, this type of smoke detector may not be your best choice.
Heat or Thermal Detector Smoke Detectors
This type of smoke detector senses a rapid increase in the temperature of your home. Once the temperature reaches a certain number, the smoke detector will sound an alarm. What this temperature is depends on the brand of heat or thermal smoke detector that you buy, but in many cases it will sound when the temperature increases approximately 15 degrees per minute. This smoke detector will not go off, however, if your home is only smoky. This results in less false alarms, but will not alert you as quick as the photoelectric smoke detector.
To keep your family completely safe, install a smoke detector in every room in your house, and learn how to use the type of detectors you purchase. You should also have a home fire safety plan in place in case you ever find yourself in this situation. For more information, contact companies like GMW Fire Protection.