With the improvement of people's safety awareness, more and more families have installed smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, which greatly reduces the risk of family fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. However, even though you have two detectors, you can't guarantee that you are safe enough. The best way is to understand the differences between the two detectors, such as working principle, installation position, detection range, etc. Only in this way can you rest assured.
Difference:
- Detection objects
The carbon monoxide detector measures carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas. It is toxic. It is easy to get dizzy, lose consciousness and die after long-term exposure to high concentration carbon monoxide. People can't see or smell it. Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion of carbonaceous substances, which is very harmful in confined space; Outdoors, carbon monoxide is diluted by oxygen in the air, the concentration becomes lower, and the harm to people is greatly reduced.
The smoke detector measures the smoke concentration before the fire, and people can see and smell it. These smoke are produced by fire combustion. There are many asphyxiating and irritant gases. Reaching a certain concentration will make people lose their ability to move quickly, such as making the body unconscious. At the same time, fire combustion consumes oxygen, and people will have difficulty breathing in this kind of smoke. If they blindly call for help in the fire, they will inhale these harmful smoke, resulting in "inhalation injury". Fire is very disadvantageous both indoors and outdoors. Indoor oxygen is consumed, leaving only toxic smoke; Outdoor oxygen is sufficient, which is conducive to the spread of the fire. At the same time, the smoke will pollute the environment and float far away. Therefore, the fire needs to be put out quickly, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.
- Working principle
The working principle of carbon monoxide detector and smoke detector mainly depends on their sensors.
There are mainly four kinds of sensors for carbon monoxide detector, which are photochromic photoelectric sensors; Bionic sensor simulating the concentration of carbon monoxide in human body; An electrochemical sensor that reflects the concentration of carbon monoxide by accurate current indication and a semiconductor sensor that reflects the concentration of carbon monoxide by the change of resistance value.
Smoke detectors mainly include ionization smoke detector and photoelectric smoke detector. The ionization smoke detector measures the small particle smoke through the change of current in the diode; Photoelectric smoke detectors detect large particles of smoke through the reflection of light.
- How people handle when two detectors trigger alarms
When the carbon monoxide alarm is triggered, people should immediately open the window, close the switch, and then quickly transfer to a safe place. This is to allow indoor air circulation and prevent the accumulation of a large amount of carbon monoxide in the house from causing fire and explosion.
When the smoke alarm is triggered, people just need to escape the house quickly. If the switch is near the gate, the switch can be turned off easily. This is because the fire will produce a lot of toxic smoke, which will make people difficult to breathe, suffocate or even lose their ability to move. Therefore, as long as the alarm is given, they should flee the scene as soon as possible, so as not to have time to evacuate. Closing the switch is to reduce the probability of secondary explosion caused by fire combustion circuit. Of course, the primary goal is to escape the scene and be alive.
- Installation position
The installation position of carbon monoxide is on the wall about 1 meter away from the ceiling. Because carbon monoxide is lighter than air, it will float upward. At the same time, the carbon monoxide detector is equipped with a display screen, which can be installed on the wall to make the display number parallel to people's line of sight.
The smoke detector is installed on the ceiling. First of all, the smoke is floating upward, which makes it easier to detect smoke particles when installed on the ceiling; Secondly, the smoke detector has no display screen, so it does not need to be installed on the wall. Installing it on the ceiling can also increase the measurement range.
- Battery life
The battery life of carbon monoxide should be classified. One is the plug-in carbon monoxide detector, which can be used only by inserting into the power socket without battery power supply; The other is the battery powered carbon monoxide detector. The battery life of this kind of detector is generally 7 ~ 10 years. When it is close to 10 years, the detector will send a low battery alarm to remind you to replace the battery in time.
Smoke detectors are mainly hard wired. Because multiple smoke detectors need to be interconnected, they are similar to plug-in carbon monoxide detectors and can be used all the time by connecting wires. However, most hard wired detectors are now equipped with batteries to prevent equipment shutdown caused by power failure. For safety reasons, it is best to change the battery once a year.
If I have a carbon monoxide detector, do I need a smoke detector?
According to my above analysis, you should know how to answer this question.
The answer is that both detectors need to be installed. Carbon monoxide detector can measure carbon monoxide gas that people can't perceive; Smoke detectors can detect smoke particles at the first time to remind people that they should evacuate quickly. Fire and carbon monoxide poisoning pose a great threat to family safety. Therefore, it is necessary to install carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors at home, preferably in corridors and every room, so as to better protect family safety.