What you may not know about smoke detectors. Katy, Texas

People say that their smoke detectors always go off in the middle of the night when there is a low battery or when one of the devices goes bad. Well, my experience was no exception. 1:10 AM on a Saturday morning to be exact. Not the chirp from a bad power source but the screeching alert of smoke detection. I got up and searched the house and garage inside and out and detected no signs of danger so I went back to bed. 2:10 AM, here we go again. I get up; go check the entire house, garage, inside and out again and again found nothing out of the ordinary. Well, like, any red blooded male, I was determined to not be awakened to this again. I unplugged all (seven) of the detectors and removed the batteries . Ahh, sweet slumber the rest of the night.

The next day I am off get new batteries. I install them and one hour later, they alarm again! Knowing it can't be the batteries, I decide to replace all of them.

I am one who researches everything before I make a purchase so to the internet I went to learn which detectors are the best and why. I discovered some important things about smoke detectors.

I was concerned to learn the smoke detectors I had in my house were ionization detectors. Most smoke detectors work either by optical detection (photoelectric) or by physical process (ionization). I discovered that the ionization style is great for high flames but photoelectric detectors detect smoke which is usually what kills people and is the first sign that a fire is eminent. From my research, I found that fires usually smolder for a while before they become (super) flames. The photoelectric will detect and alert you to smoke much sooner than the ionization detectors. Both styles are sold and there are even combination detectors which have both photoelectric and ionization features combined.

Smoke detectors last anywhere from 7-10 years and then they should be changed. If yours are older than that, then you should consider changing them to insure the safety of your family. I am no expert, but that was my experience. Dale Ross, Home Marketing Expert. 281-599-6575

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