Smoke Detector - Single Station Smoke Alarms

Single Station Smoke Alarms

The main function of a single station or "standalone" smoke alarm is to alert persons at risk. Several methods are used and documented in industry specifications published by Underwriters Laboratories Alerting methods include:

• Audible tones
  • Usually around 3200 Hz due to component constraints (Audio advancements for persons with hearing impairments have been made; see External links)
  • 85 dBA at 10 feet
• Spoken voice alert
• Visual strobe lights
  • 177 candela output
• Tactile stimulation, e.g., bed or pillow shaker (No standards exist as of 2008 for tactile stimulation alarm devices.)

Some models have a hush or temporary silence feature that allows silencing without removing the battery. This is especially useful in locations where false alarms can be relatively common (e.g. due to "toast burning") or users could remove the battery permanently to avoid the annoyance of false alarms, but removing the battery permanently is strongly discouraged.

While current technology is very effective at detecting smoke and fire conditions, the deaf and hard of hearing community has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the alerting function in awakening sleeping individuals in certain high risk groups such as the elderly, those with hearing loss and those who are intoxicated. Between 2005 and 2007, research sponsored by the United States' National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has focused on understanding the cause of a higher number of deaths seen in such high risk groups. Initial research into the effectiveness of the various alerting methods is sparse. Research findings suggest that a low frequency (520 Hz) square wave output is significantly more effective at awakening high risk individuals. Wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors linked to alert mechanisms such as vibrating pillow pads for the hearing impaired, strobes, and remote warning handsets are more effective at waking people with serious hearing loss than other alarms.