Is modern smoke alarm technology better?

dander

I hate my smoke alarm - it goes off really easily. Today I'm trying to boil a pan of pasta and I've already had to leap up twice to open doors and flap things at the smoke alarm. This one came with my house when I bought it in 2006 so is old. If I went and bought a modern one to replace it, would it be better able to distinguish steam from smoke and give me less trouble, or is this all just unavoidable?

Jonboy_1984

They generally only have a 10 year life span anyway before replacement is recommended as the sensors deteriorate over time.

If it is in the kitchen you would be better off with a heat sensor than a smoke detector, but should then still have a smoke sensor alarm in an appropriate place elsewhere on the same floor.

If you go for the modern inter-linked ones you can also potentially get a separate button to place at an easy height to silence them.

dander

Thanks. Maybe the sensors deteriorating is part of the issue. It seems more sensitive than it used to be. Will deffo replace then on that pure safety basis. I had no idea you could get ones with a silence button - that sounds awesome! Definitely save me all the open doors and flapping that I do now!

chrisw

I use these 'toast proof' ones near the kitchen. It's only gone off once by accident but does have a temporary silence button.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/FireAngel-Toast-Proof-Smoke-Alarm-1-Year-Battery/p/183400

Risteard

chrisw said:

I use these 'toast proof' ones near the kitchen. It's only gone off once by accident but does have a temporary silence button.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/FireAngel-Toast-Proof-Smoke-Alarm-1-Year-Battery/p/183400

The problem invariably is using the cheaper ionisation detectors outside a kitchen. There is no need for "toast proof" alarms, whatever that is. Photoelectric (optical) detectors will give no issues, with heat detectors only inside the kitchen. Proper selection and siting of detectors will avoid false alarms. BS 5839-6 (or I.S. 3218 in the South of Ireland) must be adhered to in full in all circumstances.

dander

Risteard said:

chrisw said:

I use these 'toast proof' ones near the kitchen. It's only gone off once by accident but does have a temporary silence button.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/FireAngel-Toast-Proof-Smoke-Alarm-1-Year-Battery/p/183400

The problem invariably is using the cheaper ionisation detectors outside a kitchen. There is no need for "toast proof" alarms, whatever that is. Photoelectric (optical) detectors will give no issues, with heat detectors only inside the kitchen. Proper selection and siting of detectors will avoid false alarms. BS 5839-6 (or I.S. 3218 in the South of Ireland) must be adhered to in full in all circumstances.

Hi Risteard - mine is not in the kitchen, it's in the hall, but my hall is tiny, so it's not far from the kitchen door. What is the best type for this position? Going on my totally non-knowledgeable intuition, I'm assuming it's the optical sensors that are "seeing" steam as smoke so a heat detector would be better. Is this correct or a misunderstanding? Any advice would be gratefully received.

Risteard

dander said:

Risteard said:

chrisw said:

I use these 'toast proof' ones near the kitchen. It's only gone off once by accident but does have a temporary silence button.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/FireAngel-Toast-Proof-Smoke-Alarm-1-Year-Battery/p/183400

The problem invariably is using the cheaper ionisation detectors outside a kitchen. There is no need for "toast proof" alarms, whatever that is. Photoelectric (optical) detectors will give no issues, with heat detectors only inside the kitchen. Proper selection and siting of detectors will avoid false alarms. BS 5839-6 (or I.S. 3218 in the South of Ireland) must be adhered to in full in all circumstances.

Hi Risteard - mine is not in the kitchen, it's in the hall, but my hall is tiny, so it's not far from the kitchen door. What is the best type for this position? Going on my totally non-knowledgeable intuition, I'm assuming it's the optical sensors that are "seeing" steam as smoke so a heat detector would be better. Is this correct or a misunderstanding? Any advice would be gratefully received.

Yes. In a room directly outside the kitchen then an optical detector is what should be there. An ionisation detector is what can be prone to false alarms from cooking. And inside the kitchen itself should be a heat detector.

dander

Thank you so much. Optical is what I'll go get then :-)

chrisw

The 'toast proof' ones are optical.