Wireless Smoke Detectors- A Critical Component Of Your Fire Safety Plan

A wireless smoke detector can be a life saver. Literally. Particularly if a fire should ignite while you and your family are asleep. You should have smoke detectors installed on each floor of your house and located near the bedrooms as well as the kitchen.

There are two major types of wireless smoke detectors: ionized smoke detectors and photoelectric smoke detectors. An ionization unit has a chamber with both a negative as well as positive charge. When any smoke enters inside the unit a drop in the positive and negative ions will cause the alarm to go off. With a photoelectric unit, the alarm is activated whenever smoke blocks the alarm's light beam. An ionization unit is less expensive that a photoelectric one. A photoelectric alarm might go off from the smoke from cooking. An ionized one will normally not be that sensitive but will begin to beep before the battery fails.

A majority of fire experts do recommend that both types of smoke detectors should be used in the home for better safety. That way if one type of alarm doesn't go off the other type hopefully will. It is possible to link multiple wireless smoke detectors together so that if one alarm sounds all of them will. This can help to ensure that everyone in the household is alerted.

It is very important that the wireless smoke detectors be checked on a regular basis to make sure they are in proper working order. They should be checked once a month. The batteries should also be replaced a minimum of once a year. If you hear the smoke detector beeping it usually means the batteries are about to die. You should replace them immediately.

Your family should have a fire escape plan in place in the event that your wireless smoke detector goes off. You should make sure the entire family, including small children, fully understand the plan and know what to do in the event that the fire alarm is sounded. In addition to discussing the plan you should also put the plan into practice. Practice fire drills a couple times a year, just like you used to do in school.

In the event that an alarm is sounded one of the very first things you should do is to get down onto the floor to check to see if the door is hot. If it is, then your escape should be through the window and not the door. If the door isn't hot, open it slowly and stay as low to the ground as possible. Staying close to the ground is important because of the fact that heat rises. The fire department should be contacted immediately when a fire is detected.

Fire prevention is very important. In addition to having properly installed and maintained wireless smoke detectors in your house and having a fire escape plan, you also need to be careful with space heaters, not smoke in bed, and in general practice common sense. Be sure that your children are fully aware of the dangers of fire as well to keep you and your loved ones safe.