(beep)
Smoke detectors are an emergency essential,
but what if your smoke detector
thinks everything's an emergency?
We wanted to know, besides smoke and fire,
what else can set off an alarm?
Vapes, candles, incense, we tried it all.
(slow funky music)
So we used a photoelectric smoke detector
in our experiments.
These detectors are designed to notice slow-burning,
smoldering fires that produce more smoke.
I'm personally a great cook
and I always know when my food's done
when I hear the smoke alarm beeping.
So what about if I was making something with steam?
We boiled a pot of water,
and held it close to the smoke detector
just to see what happens.
And, nothing happened.
So we tried a different approach and took the alarm
into a steamy bathroom to simulate a hot shower.
And still nothing.
The steam from a boiling pot of water
and from the shower didn't seem to have much of an effect
on our smoke detector.
So we set up a humidifier nearby
to see if that would have any other effect.
Sure enough, the alarm went off.
While things didn't quite get as steamy as we wanted it to,
it's still smart to install your smoke alarms
at least five feet away from humid areas
like the bathroom or the kitchen.
Next, we wanted to see if the e-cigarette vapor
would set off a smoke alarm, and bingo!
The vapor was thick enough that the alarm continued
to beep long after we blew into it.
Under normal circumstances you might not set off the alarm,
but if you smoke in a small room or with other people
also vaping at once,
or in an area with little to no ventilation,
it sure could set off the alarm.
So don't go into the closet with the smoke alarm
with all of your friends
and blow tons and tons of cotton candy.
Basically our advice is, don't vape.
But if you do, take it outside.
I've personally never heard of aerosol setting off an alarm,
but it has happened.
So, in our experiment
we tried hairspray and spray deodorant.
Surprisingly, both aerosols set off the alarm
pretty quickly. (beeping)
But it took a lot of spray power at a close range
to do the trick.
And while this worked in our test,
the only time concentrated aerosols might be a problem
is in a crowded ninth grade locker room.
Here's looking at you Axe.
Oh, it's so nasty. It is so gross.
You might only encounter incense in dorm rooms
or yoga studios, but we thought it was worth trying
near a smoke alarm.
To test this, we used a popular brand of stick incense
and a piece of Palo Santo wood.
We set up the stick incense and focused our breath
and, nothing.
The incense theory was nonsense.
But the Palo Santo stick definitely did the trick.
(beep) There it goes!
Next, we started with one standard tea candle
and added more from there.
Smoke from one candle didn't work.
Two didn't have an effect either.
The alarm went off at three candles,
but we weren't able to replicate the effect.
Four was promising too, but again,
we weren't able to do it more than once.
But we wanted results.
So, we just kind of went for it.
With 15 tea candles all lined up and ready to go,
we thought, "Surely this has to work."
And we weren't blown away.
In the end, the candles did set off the alarm,
but not consistently.
So, we called this one inconclusive.
We learned from our experiments
that smoke detectors don't need fire or smoke to go off.
E-cigarette vapor, thick incense, and aerosol
can all trigger an alarm
if they're close and concentrated enough.
If your smoke detector is full of false alarms,
check its position on the wall or ceiling.
If it's too low to the ground,
it might be sensing something it shouldn't.
Make sure your smoke detector is on the ceiling,
or no more than 12 inches from the ceiling.
We want to hear your smoke alarm stories and experiences.
Comment below to share them with us.
And check out more tips on smoke and fire safety,
from safewise.com.