ionization alarms can be dangerous!!!!

[lilrags16]

@Lambda

@chris+s

I didn’t realize until recently they even still made Ionization alarms because of the radioactive material and issues with recycling them, but apparently they’re still pretty popular in homes.

They are popular in homes because they are cheap. You figure a two story, three bedroom home, with basement would have 6 smoke alarms. At $10 a detector for ionization verses $30 a detector for photoelectric, as a contractor which one would you put in? Personally, I think they need to only allow the ionization in bedrooms and place the photoelectric everywhere else. So when you get the electrician who gets the bright idea of placing a smoke alarm too close to the kitchen so it false alarms every time someone opens the broiler, at least the photoelectric won’t go off as frequently.

But they can’t detect a fast burning fire. Ion reaction times are dependent on the unit.
When we upgraded our smokes, my dad asked what we needed. I choose the Kidde Nighthawk smoke+CO(we have a gas furnace). Also it has both types of detecters.
I’m currently working on a electro static smoke alarm.