01/11/2021
ALL ABOUT Smoke detectors
A device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Commercial smoke detectors issue a signal to a fire alarm control panel as part of a fire alarm system, while household smoke detectors issue an audible/visual alarm from the detector itself
History
The first automatic electric fire alarm was patented in 1890 by Francis Robbins Upton, George Andrew Darby patented the first European electrical heat detector in 1902. In the late 1930s Swiss physicist Walter Jaeger tried to invent a sensor for poison gas he's experiment paved the way for the modern smoke detector.
Types
The two main types of smoke detectors on the market include ionization detectors and photoelectric detectors.
Ionization - Inside there’s an ionization chamber with a small amount of radiation particles bouncing around. When smoke enters the chambers, the signal gets interrupted, causing the alarm to trigger.
Photoelectric - These alarms contain light-emitting diodes that send a beam of light across a chamber, a sensor detects light, when smoke enters the chamber, it obstructs the light witch causes the alarm to trigger.
Why use one?
When smoke alarms were present it prevented, 73% of possible deaths & 82 % of possible injuries.
The risk of dying in reported home structure fires is 55 % lower in homes with working smoke alarms