Folks,
Ionization detectors DO NOT protect you. The results and test methods are false due to the fire industy's cozy relationship with smoke detector manufacturers (yes, direct kick backs, look it up) and money for lobbyists in Sacramento and Washington DC. The profit margin on ionization detectors is much higher than photoelectric. Only photoelectric (required in commercial buildings - why not residential?) WORK. 75% of ionization detectors did not sound AT ALL in smoke filled rooms lethal to humans and have failed repeated independent tests. I'm a 20 year veteran of the fire service and a paramedic. I can guarantee you will DIE from smoke inhalation before an ionization alarm EVER goes off. No one dies from being burnt, you die from asphyxiation due to smoke and poisonous gases. Read this and only buy photoelectric. There's too much information for me to go into it here. Be sure and follow the World Safety Fire Foundation link. If that doesn't convince you to go photoelectric you're playing with death. Email [...] and if you send a SASE I will send you a dvd proving much of these assertions to you. It includes a show from Canadian TV that is ILLEGAL to show in the US as well as other information. BE SAFE! My dept's Chief's message is below:
BD
Chief's Message
Warning: Your smoke alarm may not detect smoke
Currently, there is great confusion regarding the topic of smoke alarms. There are two types of smoke alarms used to protect residents in the event of a fire; photoelectric and ionization smoke alarms- both respond differently to smoke and flame.
Ionization smoke alarms react poorly to deadly smoke but faster to flames while photoelectric alarms react much faster to smoke. Ionization alarms are present in over 95% of homes in America and have a high failure rate when it comes to detecting smoke. The problem is, most deadly fires are smoldering fires and not fast flaming fires. By now, most people understand it is deadly smoke and heat that kills you before the flames even reach you. Ionization alarms should be labeled flame alarms and not smoke alarms.
An example of a fast flaming fire would be a Christmas tree fire, which certainly have claimed their share of resident's lives, but nowhere near the number of lives claimed by smoldering fires. Other fast flaming fires would be kitchen fires, which are the leading cause of residential fires, but rarely do they claim lives. I implore you to watch the following videos and audio clips: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4 (University of Cincinnati presentation), audio clip 1.
Arguably, a greater problem with the ionization alarm is the number of false alarms it renders, thus leading to residents disconnecting the alarm all together. I must include an interesting story - a couple of years ago, with my infinite knowledge, I installed a combination ionization/photoelectric smoke alarm in my living room. Because my home is not large, the house is heated by a wood burning stove. After numerous false alarms (initiated by the invisible smoke) started by my stove, I gave up using the hush button (as it did not silence long enough) and disconnected the battery and remained disconnected until I went to bed. Finally after one season, I placed the combination alarm in my bedroom (replacing the older alarm) and placed a new photoelectric alarm in my living room. Do I need to tell you the results? Not one false alarm. So my point is, how many residents (worldwide) give up and just permanently disconnect the ionization alarm and expose themselves to a potential lethal smoldering fire? Moreover, there have been many fire deaths worldwide with working ionization smoke alarms present but failed to detect smoke. Regrettably, the fire industry has yet to take an official stand to eliminate ionization smoke alarms once and for all.
Sincerely,
Marc McGinn
Albany Fire Chief
P.S. I urge you to immediately replace your current ionization smoke alarms that do not detect smoke, with photoelectric smoke alarms, and for more extensive information please visit [...]. If you have any additional questions or need assistance I welcome your phone call at [...].
[...] First Alert SA720CN Smoke Alarm Photoelectric Sensor with Escape Light
I didn't think it'd work, but gave it a try after reading the reviews.
Works *amazingly* well in an area near the kitchen that was really frustrating w/ false alarms. The light is also very useful in that stairwell area.
Great smoke alarm with photoelectric sensor that is more sensitive to smoke than the more typical ionization smoke detectors. It's recommended to have both in your home, but for some reason these photoelectric types are harder to find in stores near us. This once comes with a spot light that will be very hand at the end of our hallway in case of a fire.
This one's like most as far as ease of installation, and comes with a battery.
I had an older alarm that was near my Kitchen that would continuously go off when we cooked on the stove. Drove me nuts!. I finally dropped kicked the old unit and replaced it with this one. No more alarms from Cooking.
Good unit.
This replaced an old detector that was installed near the kitchen. The old detector went off every time I cooked, which was quite annoying! This new alarm was placed in the same location as the old detector. The steam and smoke emitted by the stove or oven DOES NOT trigger this alarm. Very pleased!
I received 2 of these. One was fine. However, the second one did not work with the supplied battery. We thought maybe it was a bad battery so went out and bought another battery. Still no luck. This of course was after we had brought the clamshell packaging materials to our local recycling facility. We had never had an issue with smoke alarms not functioning when they were new. So...I'm stuck ordering a new one from Amazon because we already have the bracket on the ceiling. - Smoke Detector - First Alert - Alarms - Home Safety'
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