The tech revolution has impacted almost everything around our homes and offices today, but one area that has so far remained relatively low tech is smoke and fire alarms – that is changing.
The importance of smoke, carbon monoxide and fire alarms around the home is well documented. If you are asleep and something catches fire then you simply may not wake up in time unless there is a loud alarm blaring to raise you from your slumber. These alarms have saved millions of lives over the years, but the technologies used in these alarms are ageing and could do with an update or two.
A brief history of detectors and alarms
Smoke detectors have been around for over a century, with Francis Robbins Upton, a former associate of Thomas Edison, patenting the very first automatic fire alarm back in 1890 and George Andrew Darby inventing the first smoke alarm in 1902.
However, it was not until the 1960s that Duane Pearsall and Stanley Peterson invented the first affordable battery-powered smoke alarms and the mid-1970s before these made their way into mass production with easily replaceable commercially-produced batteries.
Current alarm systems
Today, there are numerous different types of smoke detectors and fire alarms available for homes and businesses, that can alert you to the presence of a fire before events get out of control. Most alarms use loud audible signals to alert you to danger, but others can also produce strobe lighting to alert the hard of hearing, and some may even use chili or horseradish smells or directly link tothe fire department.
The future of alarms
The quality and durability of more traditional alarms continues to improve, with the latest models often guaranteed to work for more than a decade and available for under £50. However, some new ideas could keep our homes and business even safer.
Ring, the video doorbell company, offers a Ring Alarm Smoke and CO Listener, which cleverly listens out for a traditional fire alarm or smoke alarm and then communicates the alarm to you, so that you will hear about any issues even when not at the location. Or more impressively, SaferAlarm offers a package of heat sensors and companion alarm, so you can place a sensor near any appliances that you consider a risk, like tumble dryers or boilers, and if they get above 66 degrees celsius the sensor will communicate to the alarm to start ringing. This is proactive protection as the temperature is set above normal operating temperatures but below that of a major fire, so you will be alerted as the malfunction instead of after the fact when the situation has become dangerous.
Don’t forget the fire extinguisher!
Alarms are a safety precaution that most people manage to maintain because they let you know when they need new batteries thanks to loud and incessant beeping, but it can be easy to forget about your fire extinguishers. These should be visually inspected once a month in business properties and similarly regularly at home to make sure they are accessible and in good working order, and then they should also be serviced regularly.
Extinguishers also need to be refilled immediately after use, even if they are not fully depleted as even a minor discharge can result in leakage. Fire cylinder refilling can be done yourself, but to be safe it is always better to have the extinguisher services and refilled by a professional.
Photograph by Military_Material