Smoke Alarms
Smoke alarms or detectors are the most sophisticated approach towards the protection of fire. A survey conducted by an organization showed that the sale of these fire alarms or smoke detectors was high, during the year. The people who have used these alarms say that they are feeling safe from fire in their homes and offices. In industries, these alarms have become a need due to the increasing loss from fire. Smoke detectors are the devices which detect the fire smoke and give warning of fire. Actually these detectors issue an alarm to the nearby people that there is a fire.
A home smoke detector is covered with a disk shaped plastic cover, which is usually about 150mm in diameter and 30mm thick. Shape of the detectors may vary with the manufacturer. Mostly, these detectors are mounted on the ceiling. To reduce the chances of misguidance, these detectors are usually installed away from the kitchens.
Smoke detectors are mostly powered by the batteries, but these may be powered by the household wiring. Usually, the alarms which are connected directly to the house wiring also have batteries, so that the alarm may be in working condition in case of electricity failure.
Cigarette smoke detectors are mostly used in homes, where no one wants to smoke. These alarms not only work as cigarette smoke detectors, but also as fire smoke detectors. The working of both fire alarm and cigarette smoke alarm are the same, but the needs are different.
The first detector was made in 1902. It was a heat detector rather than a smoke detector and indicated a rise in temperature in the apartment where it was installed. This device or the heat detector was connected with an alarm, which rang on rising of temperature from a certain limit.
There are two major kinds of smoke detectors, optical detectors and ionization detectors.
In optical detectors, a beam of laser is used to detect the smoke. These detectors are relatively expensive. Mechanism of ionized detectors is different from the optical ones. These are cheaper than optical detectors, however these are sometimes rejected by the environment reasons. These detectors can detect very small particles of smoke in the air.
The installation of these alarms is an easy task. Alarms are placed with the ceiling of the rooms so that they can detect the smoke. During the installation, the effect of kitchen smoke should be taken into account. The alarms should be placed a little far from the kitchen.
