Photoelectric Smoke Detector: Save Your Life by Saving Minutes

Photoelectric Smoke Detectors

There are two major different types of smoke detectors: Ionization smoke detectors and photoelectric smoke detectors. Understanding the difference between the two is important. While it is dangerous to not have a smoke detector installed at your home or business, it could be even riskier to have a bad smoke detector installed and assume that you do not need to worry about fires.

Instead of wondering why your smoke detector did not respond or responded too late after a devastating fire, you might want to spend more time researching and choosing a more effective and reliable smoke detector.

There are two basic types of smoke detectors: ionization smoke detectors and photoelectric smoke detector. These alarms behave very differently. In real-world fatal fire cases, the differences could mean life or death. So, knowing the difference could very well save your life, as well as your property.

How Ionization Smoke Detectors Work Compared to Photoelectric Smoke Detector

An ionization smoke detector uses a source of ionizing radiation and a current detector to detect smoke. Smoke particles will cause a drop of the current in the smoke detector and when the electric circuit in the detector detects the drop of current it sounds the alarm. This is different from photoelectric smoke detector.

How Photoelectric Smoke Detector Works

Photoelectric smoke detector (or optical detector) uses a source of light and a light-sensitive electronic sensor to detect smoke. When smoke particles enter the smoke detector, they scatter some of the light from the light source onto the light-sensitive detector; and when there’s enough light hitting the light detector, the photoelectric sensor initiates the alarm.

Key Difference Between Ionization & Photoelectric Smoke Detectors – Minutes that Matter

Tests have shown that ionization alarms typically respond about 30 to 90 seconds faster to flaming fires, while photoelectric smoke detector responds an average of 30 to 40 minutes faster to smoldering fires. Studies indicate that a vast majority of residential fire fatalities result from smoke inhalation, not from the actual flames; and more than half of fire fatalities occur at night while we sleep.

Better sensitivity to earlier stages of fire means earlier detection of fatal fires, more time to escape or call 911, and faster response by emergency crews; while delayed warning can lead to greater loss of life in a burning structure. Delayed detection is especially catastrophic at night, when we are sleeping.

Because of their faster response time, The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has urged people to change to photoelectric smoke detectors.