Advice on buying a smoke alarm.

[Jurassicspark]

FireAngel state their product life is 10 years and they should be replaced at that time.

In the case of most non-replaceable alarms, yes. But I have been proven that mine are still functional.


Fireangel is free to make any statement they choose, and it should be done, but some people don't bother to replace their smoke alarms, much like an owner's handbook that indicates when to change a car's oil. Do people follow it?

 

[JohnW2]

Only one tested in action. Customer with integrated garage that caught on fire.

Do you consider the evidence from a 'sample size' of 1 to be an adequate basis for a 'recommendation ?

 

[sparkymarka]

Ionisation smoke alarms …..replace if over 10 years old …
Optical will last longer but as they get older and get contaminated they are more likely to false alarm

 

[aveatry]

Ionisation smoke alarms …..replace if over 10 years old …
Optical will last longer but as they get older and get contaminated they are more likely to false alarm

Yes I thought they were fazeing out the ionisation ones. My new last year Aico ones were optical and have a connection to a mobile and you can monitor the contamination amongst other things like bck up battery power, triggers. It also has some sort of dust detection and reset ignore thingamjigy.

 

[flameport]

Aico alarms are individually tested multiple times during manufacture, and they are made in Shannon, Ireland.

Other brands are batch tested, meaning 1 in every few 100 or 1000 is tested and if that passes, the rest are assumed to work. They are made in far away countries and have been banging around in a shipping container for months before you get them.

 

[Murdochcat]

Do you consider the evidence from a 'sample size' of 1 to be an adequate basis for a 'recommendation ?

Well, fitted hundreds, had 1 fail under warranty which was replaced by Aico on receipt of the suppliers invoice. So yes I do recommend them

 

[JohnW2]

Well, fitted hundreds, had 1 fail under warranty which was replaced by Aico on receipt of the suppliers invoice. So yes I do recommend them

Yes - but as TTC wrote, other than if they don't even respond to the test button, the only way one can know whether or not they have 'failed' is by knowing whether or not they have actually responded correctly to a real fire.

Have you any idea how many of the hundreds you have fitted have come face-to-face with a real fire? I strongly suspect that the number will be so low that, even if they all detected the fire they encountered,that would prove little about the reliability of the products as a whole.

 

[JohnW2]

Aico alarms are individually tested multiple times during manufacture, and they are made in Shannon, Ireland. ... Other brands are batch tested, meaning 1 in every few 100 or 1000 is tested and if that passes, the rest are assumed to work.

As a matter of interest, how do you know that?

Do the manufacturers of all other brands actually publicise the fact that they only undertake batch testing?

 

[flameport]

No other manufacturer states that they test them individually, meaning they don't.
If they did, they would be sure to tell people as it's a far more robust method.

 

[Murdochcat]

Yes - but as TTC wrote, other than if they don't even respond to the test button, the only way one can know whether or not they have 'failed' is by knowing whether or not they have actually responded correctly to a real fire.

Have you any idea how many of the hundreds you have fitted have come face-to-face with a real fire? I strongly suspect that the number will be so low that, even if they all detected the fire they encountered,that would prove little about the reliability of the products as a whole.

For the price of 3 replacements I have piece of mind for me and my family.

Not replacing them is something I would never consider an option

 

[JohnW2]

No other manufacturer states that they test them individually, meaning they don't. If they did, they would be sure to tell people as it's a far more robust method.

Hmmm - we often see people here making comments about 'assumptions', and those comments become even more valid when the 'assumptions' are based on the absence of information.

I suspect that many, perhaps most, people will, even in the absence of any statement from thee manufacturer, expect that that any product of a 'safety-critical' nature will be subjected to at least some degree of individual inspection/testing -and it would not surprise me if there were some 'requirement' for that to be done with such products.

Let's face it, batch testing can only pick up systematic problems with a mass production process. It cannot pick up the sporadic defects in individual products which will inevitably arise with any manufactured product.

In fact, in terms of products in general, many of which are far from'safety critical', it is extremely common to find little "tested" stickers on each item. I do find it hard to believe that, even if manufacturers do not 'boast' about it (maybe because they consider it as 'obvious'?), any smoke alarms come to market without having undergone at least some individual testing'.

Mind you, even when there is individual testing, it tells one nothing about reliability of the particular item - a product which passes all tests when it comes off the production line may fail hours, days or weeks after being put into service!

 

[JohnW2]

For the price of 3 replacements I have piece of mind for me and my family. Not replacing them is something I would never consider an option

I certainly don't disagree with any of that, but it's nothing to do with the point I made.

You were recommending Aico because you had installed hundreds' and were only aware of one which had 'failed' - but,as I implied, for the vast majority of those 'hundreds' you really don't know whether they have 'failed'or not, since very few will have been exposed to fires.

 

[davidmiller]

Thanks for your tips everyone. Very helpful.

 

[Murdochcat]

I certainly don't disagree with any of that, but it's nothing to do with the point I made.

You were recommending Aico because you had installed hundreds' and were only aware of one which had 'failed' - but,as I implied, for the vast majority of those 'hundreds' you really don't know whether they have 'failed'or not, since very few will have been exposed to fires.

Mr splitting hairs strikes again - and he’s not a spark either

 

[aveatry]

I might add that having an alarm is only the start - you need to also have a plan of escape that the family knows.