I believe some makers are moving away from them because of the particular radioactive component within. Not because of their effectiveness.
Smoke Alarm : Battery and Mains?
- Thread starter bolo 2
- Start date
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No, I stated no such thing. They can be used in appropriate locations. The fact remains that for the majority of locations they are not the correct alarm type to select. Bedrooms are about the only sensible place for them.
That may well be true.
At least until relatively recently, the advice from seemingly fairly authoritative sources (like the major reputable manufacturers) talked about the pros and cons of ionisation and optical detectors in such a way that I, for one, could never really work out which were preferable for where in my house (regardless of considerations of cost).
I also have to say that I've always found it rather odd that the ionisation ones are the cheaper - since, if you had asked me to guess, I'm sure that I would have said that they were probably appreciably more expensive than optical ones.
Kind Regards, John
Does the standard actually say that in black and white though?
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Largely because of a fire in 2014 where 12 people were killed and the subsequent "Findings" of the Coroner
(https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__dat...2248/cif-slacks-creek-house-fire-20141128.pdf ),
the Australian State of Queensland now has what are (probably) the strictest "regulations" concerning the installation of smoke-alarms of any jurisdiction in the world.
From 1 January 2022, landlords must install interconnected smoke alarms in residential rental properties.
The number of smoke-alarms required in all "dwellings" is being progressively increased and their positioning specified in detail.
"From 1 January 2027
- All existing private homes, townhouses and units will require photoelectric interconnected smoke alarms. These must be either a hardwired (eg. 240v) or non-removable 10 year battery powered type alarm.
- The legislation requires smoke alarms must be installed in the following locations:
- on each storey
- in each bedroom
- in hallways that connect bedrooms and the rest of the dwelling
- if there is no hallway, between the bedroom and other parts of the storey; and
- if there are no bedrooms on a storey, at least one smoke alarm must be installed in the most likely path of travel to exit the dwelling."
- on each storey
- be photoelectric and comply with Australian Standard 3786-2014
- not also contain an ionisation sensor; and
- be less than 10 years old; and
- operate when tested; and
- be interconnected with every other ‘required’ smoke alarm in the dwelling so all activate together.
These and other details can be found in https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/prepare/fire/smoke-alarms
I commend them to you all for your information, interest and consideration.
Just as lessons have been learned from the UK "Grenfell Tower" fire of 1917, both in the UK and elsewhere, so lessons should be learned "elsewhere" from the "Slacks Creek house fire".
For more than 2 years the landlord cannot be faulted. And this time it’s no different as he has already arranged for a spark to update all smoke alarms. Mind you, at £1500 a month for a 1 bedroom flat you would expect good house maintenance. Or at least I would.
Of course, the requirements for a "flat" are (or should be) that all smoke-alarms in the building (or, at least, the section of the building with a common "escape route") be "interconnected" - to sound as one.
The existing alarm appears to be of the interconnected type. So expect that requirement is already covered.
Not necessarily.
In fact, almost certainly not.
Smoke-Alarms physically interconnected together in a "dwelling" are usually interconnected via a "conductor" associated with the (one) circuit supplying them.
This may not be at all possible in a multi-unit dwelling, or even in dwellings which exist side-by-side, since there is no commonality between the "smoke-alarm" supply circuits in different dwellings.
Further, each "dwelling/unit" may be on a different 240 V phase to the adjacent "dwelling/unit".
Wireless connection would make this easier - but I believe that we "know" that that is not so in this case.
That is why I said “appears to be”. I based my assumption on there being three conductors on the connect cable. The white being the interconnect. It can only interconnect to other alarms if the wiring is in place to do this.
These alarms are all within one single dwelling, not part of the common areas.
What do you think that the third (white-insulated) conductor is for, then?
Kind Regards, John
That's a familiar sort of story these days, but may be an example of the only-too-common bureaucratic knee-jerk in response to a single event (or smallnumber of events) - maybe like the (in my opinion, potentially dangerous) requirement for metal domestic CUs in the UK.
As I said, ionisation smoke alarms were no less effective/'suitable' in 2017 than they were in, say, 1987 -so it is 'thinking' that has changed, not the devices.
Perhaps more to the point, as I also said, until quite recently most of the guidance seemed to be suggesting that, for most locations, there was little to choose between ionisation and photoelectric detectors, the difference in performance depending upon the nature of the fire ('what was burning') - and a decision on that basis would really require a crystal ball. Indeed, I seem to recall that the guidance back then suggested that ionisation detectors were preferable (more effective) for some 'sorts of fire'. It therefore seemed to be a fairly finely-balanced choice.
I can but presume that some new evidence has arisen which has shifted thinking in the direction of photoelectric sensors, but I haven't personally seen it. However, if that old guidance were in any way correct, actually 'forbidding' ionisation detection, even in combination with photoelectric (you quote "... Those alarms must: ... not also contain an ionisation sensor..."), that would presumably mean that the Australian regulations leave people sub-optimally protected against some 'types of fire'?
Kind Regards, John
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