When smoke alarms are a nuisance: A call to action

"There is a clear analogy between smoke detectors and child car seats. Both technologies have been enthusiastically embraced, and their widespread distribution has saved many thousands of lives. However, the issue of car seat misuse has led to a reevaluation of enginering and educational approaches for child occupant protection. It is time for a similar comprehensive reevaluation of smoke detectors for home fire safety." The article goes on to describe the problems associated with residents intentionally disabling their detectors because of frequent false-alarms, usually due to smoke from cooking or general moisture. The article then discusses a possible solution to the 'nuisance alarms' scenario: the insatallation of photoelectric, rather than ionization, smoke detectors. These photoelectric detectors are far less prone to nuisance alarming. Possible future technology is also discussed in terms of smoke detectors.