Be smoke smart for this season

According to the Health Direct website, about half of all house fires start in the kitchen, while more than 40 per cent of all deaths are a result of a fire during winter.

These fires can be caused by heaters, clothes dryers and other household appliances.

The merits of working smoke alarms are widely acknowledged and can prevent death, injury and property loss or damage.

However, there are still some households without smoke alarms or there are those that forget to regularly replace the batteries to ensure they are fully functional.

It is also important that battery operated smoke detectors are replaced every ten years, so some experts suggest recording when the smoke alarms were last installed by marking the date on the device with a permanent marker.

“Residents who are worried about the upkeep of their smoke alarms may like to consider integrating smoke detectors into their home security system.  This can be a smart solution to help protect the home from a fire,” Darryn Bull from ADT Security said.

Integrated smoke detectors not only help by alerting you to a house fire while you’re at home or asleep, but they will also send you a notification if the smoke detector is triggered while you are away from the home.  

In this event, emergency services can be notified. 

For those who aren’t complacent about the upkeep with smoke alarms, integrated fire and smoke detectors mean you won’t need to worry about remembering to change the alarms batteries. 

There are two types of smoke detection technology that consumers should be aware of.

One is ionisation detectors that can identify the presence of smoke but are not always effective at detecting slow-smoldering fires.

The other type is photoelectric detectors which can sense visible particles of combustion, and react to smoldering fires. 

Another benefit of having photoelectric technology means it is less likely to produce a false alarm.