How many times have you gone over to the smoke alarm and ripped out the battery in frustration? Some are so touchy, that you can’t even cook a meal without it going off over and over again. Not only is this annoying, but it can be unsafe. It can be unsafe because you may not remember to go put the battery back in when you’re done, or you may be so frustrated with it that you actually just choose to leave it out. How many of us are guilty of that? I know I am. What you may not know, is that there is more than one kind of smoke alarm for you to choose from, and you may not have the one best suited to your needs. There is one kind that reacts to the particles of smoke in the air, and then there are ones that respond to the broken beam of light that is created by smoke in the air. They are called ionization, and photoelectric, respectively, and then there are also smoke alarms that are a combination of the two. If you are using an ionization type detector in your RV, you may be getting frustrated with the constant false alarms. This happens due to the small cabin size, and relatively poor ventilation of most RV’s. We’ve found this website very helpful in learning more about each type and in helping determine which type will work best for you. They reccomend the combination saying that, “ Simply put, Ionization/Photoelectric smoke alarms combine the benefits of both detection technologies in a single unit to provide the most complete protection possible. Combination smoke detectors eliminate the guesswork involved in choosing the best type of smoke detector for each area of your home because they’ve got it all covered: ionization detection for sudden, low smoke flame-ups, and photoelectric sensors for smoky, slow-burning fires”. This time of year, especially for full-time RV’ers or holiday RV’ers who are doing some baking and food prep in their RV’s, this becomes a very important issue. If you have any questions about your smoke alarm, or what may be best for you, please call us and ask! We’d be happy to put you in touch with one of our knowledgeable service technicians to make sure you’ve got what you need. Need to purchase a new alarm? You can do that too… Just visit our online parts store!
