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[–] 51 points 3 years ago (13 children)

This is a shitshow, probably illegal and the "10" years smoke detectors never last more than 6, like i know a German Youtuber did some magic math and testing, the 10 years is even under laboratory conditions basically impossible, in the real world the thing may go off once or twice, and are tested if they work, already taking out at least 1 year of time...

I fucking want my 9V powered smoke detectors back.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 years ago (8 children)

    But how would they sell more smoke detectors that way?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (6 children)

    Doesn't the isotope in the detection chamber degrade and needs to be replaced in 10 years anyway?

    https://www.epa.gov/radtown/americium-ionization-smoke-detectors

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    most smoke detectors nowadays are optical.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

    Both kinds exist. Both have different benefits and drawbacks.

    You shouldn't only be using one type in your house.

    Optical is great for detecting large smoke particles quickly. If the smoke is small particles, though, it'll need to be rather dense before it'll go off. Ionizing detectors have the opposite issue; they react quickly to small particles but can't detect large particles that well.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    No the sensitivity of radiation based smoke alarms tends to cause false positives which in turn causes people to ignore them making them less effective. Optical smoke detectors are overall the newer and better technology.

    That being said radiation based smoke detection is still a cool concept. There might be a few areas where they perform better still, though probably not.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    The smoke detectors in my house are hooked up to the main power, but they still take a battery and beep when the battery is dead. I thought the battery was backup, but they die after about 2 years, so it can't be backup, it must be used for something.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    Even the 9V ones didn't last forever.

    I found that out one very exciting morning, when it decided to sing me the song of its people. If you've never stumbled down the stairs at 4am looking for a fire with your bollocks flapping about, I heartily recommend it.

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