Smoke Detectors: What You Need to Know

Most homeowners don’t think about their smoke detectors until they start beeping in the middle of the night and can’t seem to turn them off. This minor inconvenience leads many Americans to disconnect their smoke detectors or remove the batteries so they can get a good night’s sleep. While getting a full eight hours of sleep is important, smoke detectors play a vital role in home safety, and compromising their function in any way puts your life and the lives of those around you in great danger.

There are two types of smoke detectors, ionization and photoelectric, each serving a different purpose and detecting smoke or fire in a distinct way. Let’s take a look at each:

Ionization Smoke Detectors

Ionization smoke detectors, or type "i" detectors, are the most popular type of smoke detector used in homes. They are generally more responsive to what are known as 'fast flame' fires, though these are a less common fire in homes. A downside of this type of detector is its tendency for nuisance alarms, which can be triggered by everyday occurrences like burning toast or steam from a shower. Unfortunately, these frequent false alarms sometimes lead homeowners to disable the alarms by removing their batteries, leaving the home without protection.

When investigating house fires, fire departments and fire marshals have found that many fire-related fatalities could potentially have been avoided with photoelectric smoke detectors. In some cases, fatalities have been attributed to ionization detectors not activating early enough to provide timely warning for people to escape. Surprisingly, nearly 90% of homes are equipped only with ionization type smoke detectors, and it's alarming to learn that many homes don't have any smoke detectors at all. Adding to the concern, a recent study revealed that 55% of ionization smoke detectors failed to sound an alarm promptly during smoldering fires, which are the most common type of house fire. This indicates a significant limitation in ionization detectors' ability to detect these slower-developing, smoldering fires.

Photoelectric Smoke Detectors

Photoelectric smoke detectors, also known as type "p" detectors, are particularly effective at sensing smoldering, smoke-rich fires. These types of fires are the most common in homes. Statistically, about two-thirds of house fires occur while people are sleeping. Smoldering fires typically start small and develop slowly, sometimes over several hours – imagine a cigarette igniting a mattress, for instance. These fires produce slow-moving, large, and dense smoke particles, which are more readily detected by photoelectric smoke detectors. This makes them a crucial tool in early fire detection, especially for the kinds of fires that are most likely to occur in residential settings.

Many smoke detector manufacturers produce both ionization and photoelectric models, and these can often look very similar from the outside, except for a small "i" or "p" marking indicating their type. To identify whether a smoke detector is ionization or photoelectric, you can look at the packaging or at the front or back of the unit.

Lately, there's been significant discussions in the home inspection community about the effectiveness of these different types of smoke detectors. Some states and cities have begun to revise their regulations to mandate the use of photoelectric smoke detectors in homes and other buildings.

Although combination detectors that include both ionization and photoelectric technologies are available, testing has shown that they may not be as reliable as standalone photoelectric units. Independent tests suggest that having a mix of several ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors in a home offers the most comprehensive protection. Various groups have conducted tests to compare how ionization and photoelectric detectors respond to common types of house fires. The findings may surprise you - in many tests simulating typical house fires, photoelectric detectors activated 15-50 minutes earlier than ionization types. In some instances, the ionization detectors didn't activate at all.

Where Smoke Detectors Should be Installed

Current standards require the installation of smoke detectors in all bedrooms, the areas adjacent to bedrooms (like hallways), and on every level of a home, including basements and sometimes even attics. These standards also stipulate that smoke detectors should be hardwired to the home's 120 Volt power supply and interconnected, meaning if one detector is triggered, all of them will sound an alarm. For new constructions, these hardwired smoke detectors are required to have a battery backup.

Local regulations, like in various townships, cities, and boroughs, may have their own specific requirements for smoke detectors, regardless of the age of the home. These local rules often align with the International Residential Code (IRC) concerning the placement of smoke detectors, though they typically don't mandate hardwired units.

It's important to keep in mind that home inspectors are not code inspectors and don't determine code compliance. However, they do use the IRC as a guideline for common building, electrical, and plumbing standards.

When testing smoke detectors, it's crucial to understand that simply pressing the test button and hearing a beep only verifies that the detector has power – it doesn’t guarantee that the detector will activate in the event of a fire. Many people mistakenly believe that a beeping smoke detector equates to full functionality and safety. However, the true measure of a smoke detector’s effectiveness lies in its sensor. To properly test whether the detector's sensor is working and will respond to smoke, you need to test it with a real smoke source.

To test your smoke detector, consider safely lighting a match and waving it near the sensor. The smoke should trigger the alarm to go off. Once it does, you can simply turn off the alarm by pushing the ‘RESET’ button on the detector. If the alarm does not go off, try a slightly bigger flame if your match is too small or adjust where you hold the match. A non-sounding alarm indicated that the detector is not working. If this is the case, replace the batteries and try again. If it still does not work, you may need to replace your smoke detector entirely.

Note: During a home inspection, most inspectors only note the presence of smoke detectors, and not if they are functional or not.

Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years. Not sure how old your smoke detectors are? Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, many smoke detector manufacturers have been including the manufacture date on their products. To see how old your detectors are, check the manufacturer’s label on the device. If your smoke detectors lack a visible date, it's a good bet they're over 10 years old and need replacing.

Moreover, if your smoke detectors don't have a manufacture date at all, they might be over 20 years old, and replacement is even more urgent. A 20-year-old detector might still beep when tested, but there's a significant risk that its internal sensor has deteriorated and may not activate in an actual fire. Considering the relatively low cost of smoke detectors, it's not worth risking your family's safety with a device that has exceeded its useful life. Not surprisingly, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that nearly one in five smoke alarms in the USA are more than 10 years old.

For new construction homes, builders usually leave protective covers on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors until the closing of the house. This is to prevent construction debris like drywall dust from damaging the sensors. If there's any doubt about whether these sensors have been compromised, the safest option is to replace the detectors.

So next time you wake up in the middle of the night to a beeping smoke detector, think twice before disconnecting it as it could save your life. Don’t forget to change the batteries every six months, test your detectors often, and replace them after 10 years.

Author Bio:

WIN Home Inspection

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