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Fire Alarms: The Different Types of Systems

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Fire. It can be useful, but it can also be highly destructive. When a fire breaks out in your home or business, it can not only cause extreme damage to your property, but can also cause lives to be lost. For these reasons, it’s highly important that no matter where your business is located, whether it’s Canton, Columbus or Akron, fire alarms need to be installed in order to warn you about any possible outbreak of fire.

While it’s best to have any type of fire alarm system in your Akron or other Ohio-based business or multi-residential property, you’ll find there are key differences between the two most common types, mainly in their applications. Commonly, fire alarms, also known to the mass populace as “smoke alarms,” can be broken into photoelectric alarms and ionization alarms.

Photoelectric Fire Alarms
Photoelectric fire alarms are alarms that “see” smoke. Photoelectric alarms are particularly responsive to fire that are smoldering or give out a lot of smoke, and are ideal for structures that have items like PVC, foam and other highly flammable materials. Normally, photoelectric fire alarms are a tad more expensive than their ionization brethren, and it also must be kept clean, as false alarms can be generated by dust and insects.

Ionization Fire Alarms
Ionization fire alarms detect the invisible particles created by combustion. Compared to photoelectric alarms, ionization alarms “feel” the smoke generated by a fire outbreak, and is great for detecting fires that have not created any visible smoke. However, it can be susceptible to false alarms, so it should not be placed in a kitchen or other area where a great deal of heat is generated. These alarms are less expensive than photoelectric fire alarms, but they also contain some radioactive materials, so caution is advised.


Not sure what fire alarms are right for your Akron business? Give Hard Fire a call now at 800-848-1301. 
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