Use and Care Manual
Smoke Alarm
The smoke alarm monitors the air for products of combustion
that are produced when something is burning or smoldering.
When smoke particles in the smoke sensor reach a specified
concentration, the alarm/voice message warning system will
sound, and be accompanied by the flashing red LED light.
The smoke alarm takes precedence when both smoke
and carbon monoxide are present.
NFPA 72 states: Life safety from fire in residential occupancies
is based primarily on early notification to occupants of the
need to escape, followed by the appropriate egress actions
by those occupants. Fire warning systems for dwelling units
are capable of protecting about half of the occupants in
potentiallyfatalfires.Victimsareoftenintimatewiththefire,
too old or young, or physically or mentally impaired such that
they cannot escape even when warned early enough that
escape should be possible. For these people, other strategies
such as protection-in-place or assisted escape or rescue are
necessary.
•Smokealarms are devices that can provide early warn
ing of possible fires at a reasonable cost; however,
alarmshavesensinglimitations.Ionizationsensing
alarms may detect invisible fire particles (associated
with fast flaming fires) sooner than photoelectric
alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect visible
fire particles (associated with slow smoldering fires)
soonerthanionizationalarms.Homefiresdevelopin
different ways and are often unpredictable. For
maximum protection, Kidde recommends that both
IonizationandPhotoelectricalarmsbeinstalled.
•Abatterypoweredalarmmusthaveabatteryofthe
specified type, in good condition and installed properly.
•ACpoweredalarms(withoutbatterybackup)willnot
operate if the AC power has been cut off, such as by
an electrical fire or an open fuse.
•Smokealarms must be tested regularly to make sure
the batteries and the alarm circuits are in good
operating condition.
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Smoke Alarm Features
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