A simple device like a smoke detector is an amazing gadget. A smoke detector, also known as smoke alarm, is a safety equipment that detects smoke and issues an alarm to alert nearby people that there is a potential fire. Smoke alarms automatically detect the presence of smoke. Smoke detector always proves its importance by saving many lives every year. It is important to put smoke alarms in the right places in your home. You should also test them regularly to make sure that they work properly.

Fire smoke detector is considered mandatory to be installed in every home and office since it detects smoke emits from fire that could be disastrous if not checked in time. Smoke alarms should be established on every floor of a house to ensure absolute safety. This fire fighting safety equipment has a smoke sensor to sense smoke and an electric buzzer to alert people about the smoke break out.

Because smoke rises, most detectors are mounted on the ceiling or on a wall near the ceiling. To avoid the nuisance of false alarms, most smoke alarms are mounted away from kitchens. To increase the chances of waking sleeping occupants, most homes have at least one smoke detector near any bedrooms; ideally in a hallway as well as in the bedroom itself.

Smoke detector consists of two basic parts - a sensor to sense the smoke and a very loud electronic horn to wake people up. Smoke detectors can run off of a 9-volt battery or 120-volt house current. This safety equipment needs regular maintenance and change of batteries.

There are two types of smoke alarms available commercially today. They are photoelectric smoke detectors and ionization smoke detectors. Both ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors are effective smoke sensors. Ionization smoke detectors respond more quickly to flaming fires with smaller combustion particles; photoelectric smoke detectors respond more quickly to smoldering fires. The photoelectric smoke detector uses an optical beam to search for smoke. When smoke particles cloud the beam, a photoelectric cell senses the decrease in light intensity and triggers an alarm.

In either type of smoke detector, steam or high humidity can lead to condensation on the circuit board and sensor, causing the alarm to sound. Ionization smoke detectors are less expensive than photoelectric detectors, but some users purposely disable them because ionization smoke detector is more likely to sound an alarm from normal cooking due to its sensitivity to minute smoke particles. However, ionization smoke detectors have a degree of built-in security not inherent to photoelectric detectors. When the battery starts to fail in an ionization smoke detector, the ion current falls and the alarm sounds, warning that it is time to change the battery before the smoke detector becomes ineffective. Back-up batteries may be used for photoelectric detectors.