Here’s The Easiest Way To Protect Your Home From Unexpected Fires
While there are plenty of ways to avoid fires at home, installing smoke detectors is one of the most straightforward solutions to protect your house from unexpected fires.
Not only will they warn you when there’s an actual fire, but they can also reduce the risk of fires starting in the first place by sounding an alarm if there’s too much heat in a room.
If you want to learn more about smoke detectors and how to have a fireproof safe home, keep reading to find out about essential factors you should consider when buying smoke detectors.
What are Smoke Detectors?
A smoke detector is a small device that sounds an alarm when it detects smoke. It has two parts: the sensor and the alarm. When there’s a fire, heat from the flames rises and sets off the sensor, which activates the alarm to alert you to evacuate your home immediately.
Smoke detectors should be installed in every bedroom, hallway, kitchen, and outside of every sleeping area to create maximum protection against fires.
How Do They Work?
A smoke detector typically contains a tiny wire coil made up of many turns of skinny wire. When this coil heats up (exposed to high temperatures), the electricity flowing through it increases, making more current flow through the wire and inducing a stronger magnetic field around it.
These changes can be detected by other nearby coils also carrying electricity, causing those coils to generate their changing magnetic fields. That creates a magnetic flux which causes an electric current to flow back into the original coil. And because this original coil is carrying electricity, it generates its changing magnetic field and so on. One change starts another one until, finally, the alarm goes off.
Essential Factors You Should Consider When Installing Smoke Detectors
There are five main factors you should consider when purchasing a smoke detector for a fireproof safe home. They include:
- Location: You want to ensure the smoke detector is at least 10 feet away from the stove or cooking surface.
- Battery Type: The best battery type would be lithium-ion which lasts about ten years without needing replacement.
- Type of Detector: There are three smoke detectors available in the market, namely, photoelectric, ionization, and dual detection. Photoelectric sensors work better with furnaces and smoldering fires, whereas ionization sensors work better with flaming fires like candles or grease burning on a stovetop. Dual detection models use both technologies for maximum protection.
- Sensitivity: You must ensure the smoke detector is sensitive enough to pick up even the smallest amounts of smoke.
- Interconnectivity: A few smoke detectors produced recently have this feature that allows them to talk wirelessly and sound an alarm if any of them go off, even if they’re not located near each other.
In Conclusion
There are many safety precautions you can take to make sure that you have a fireproof safe home. Installing smoke detectors, having a functioning sprinkler system, and installing carbon monoxide detectors are just a few ways to protect your home from unwanted fires. In addition, always make sure you have emergency exits available and an escape plan should the worst happen.
Also Read Common Sources and Health Effects of Physical Hazards