Have you ever had a smoke detector go off at home but you couldn’t put your finger on why it happened? It is always a good idea to get to the bottom of the problem and understand whether there is a trigger other than smoke or a potential fault in the device. Many smoke detectors will go off because of substances that act like smoke.
Dust can set off a smoke detector, and is actually a common cause of accidental smoke detector activations. It all comes down to the way that airborne particles trigger the sensors on these devices. In the right form, dust near a device can mimic smoke, as is the case for many other substances. It also doesn’t help if dust gets trapped within the smoke detector over time.
Because dust is such an enemy to our valuable smoke detection devices, we must learn more about how dust affects them and what we can do about it. That means learning more about the following.
- The different types of smoke detectors and how they react to dust
- Different types of dust clouds in the atmosphere that could trigger an alarm
- The risks of dust getting into our smoke alarms
- The importance of regular cleaning and maintenance
Table of Contents
What are the types of smoke detectors?
There are lots of different types of smoke detectors that determine the presence of fire or smoke in various ways. While some are purely about the temperature of the room, most include some form of sensor that detects airborne particles in smoke.
Many of you will have photoelectric-based detectors in your home or workplace. This is where the device detects a fire by detecting disruptions of a simple optical light beam.
Particles in the air break the beam and lead the detector to believe there is smoke. Ionization-based smoke detectors are very similar because they too need a clear break in the signal. This time there is a current within the device.
Once this is broken due to the ionization of the atmosphere, the alarm will start to sound. The similarity of these devices means that you get a similar effect when smoke is present. At the same time, you get a similar risk of false alarms due to the presence of other airborne particles breaking the beam.
That is why you also see a lot of combination devices now. These use one of the sensors, such as the light beam, but also the heat sensor for room temperature. The beam from the light may break when there are particles in the air.
Rather than assume there is a fire, the device then turns to the readings from the heat sensor. If there is no clear rise in temperature then there is no fire and the broken beam was the result of something else. This reduces false alarms.
How can dust set off a smoke detector?
As you can see, the functionality of these devices that don’t solely rely on heat triggers is all able the presence of particles in the air and that disruption of the signal from the sensor.
While this is ideal for smoke, it also means to similar airborne substances can also trigger the system.
That is why those that vape can find that their e-cigarettes also have the potential to trigger them. You can learn more about this in my guide on vaping triggering smoke detectors.
There is also a risk from more mundane factors such as insects that might crawl into the device and from dust. This could be a large cloud of dust that appears underneath the sensor or from a build-up of dust in and around the detector.
Various types of dust could lead to problematic dust clouds.
Theoretically, any form of dust in a big enough cloud could be enough to disrupt the beam and set off the alarm. An extreme example is flour. We don’t think of flour as dust.
But, it is a fine dry powder, and if you clap your hands together when baking you find that you get quite a thick dust cloud. The same is true if clapping chalkboard erasers together. This will mostly be a small cloud that doesn’t linger in the air too long.
Still, there is a greater risk in industrial facilities.
A more common risk related to dust clouds at home is the creation of sawdust or paint dust during renovations. Sanding down a wall with an electric sander can produce so much waste in dust from paint and plaster that you need to wear a mask.
This could also create enough for a lingering dust cloud in a badly ventilated room. The same is true if using power tools to cut or sand wood.
Should I use dust covers for my smoke detectors?
If you are planning on carrying out renovation work in your home that could involve a lot of sanding, it is a could idea to get a dust cover for the alarm.
This means that if you were to accidentally send up a lot of paint dust or sawdust underneath the device, you wouldn’t end up with a false alarm.
However, it is also important to remember that these covers are not to be used frequently. They should never act as permanent covers to stop everyday dust or insects from making their way into the unit.
Doing so could limit the functionality of the detector to the point where it is unable to read any smoke particles in the air. At that point, you may as well not have the smoke alarm set up – and that could be a fatal mistake.
How To Clean Smoke Detectors
Dealing with the problem of dust around smoke detectors also means taking care not to let dust build up inside the device or on the surface. This is more likely than you might think as dust clings to the exterior of the device and bugs make their way inside. Cobwebs around the detector won’t help either.
Therefore, it pays to clean the smoke alarm regularly to lower the likelihood of false alarms in the future. The easiest thing that you can do is dust the outside of the smoke detector.
You could wipe it down with a microfiber cloth or use an extendable duster so you don’t have to climb on any step ladders or unsafe furniture. You can also use a paintbrush or another soft brush to get inside the vents for a more thorough clean.
Don’t be too rough as you could end up damaging internal electronics. This is also a good time to test the battery.
Fire alarm tests in residential and communal buildings.
Every smoke detector should go through some form of cleaning and maintenance on a routine basis. It is easy for tenants, whether in commercial or residential units, to overlook this task until the smoke detector starts making noises. While it never hurts to test a smoke alarm and wipe it down, your landlord should also take some responsibility here in taking care of the devices. They may schedule servicing twice a year where all the properties or units in a block go through the same process of cleaning and testing. This brings peace of mind to all parties and could mean that professionals spot any additional issues or fire safety considerations at the same time.
Is dust flammable?
Finally, there is the issue of the flammability of dust itself. The presence of dust alone may not be enough to trigger a smoke alarm in small amounts. But, a fire caused or accelerated by dust definitely could.
Dust is flammable because it is such a dry combustible material, often made from organic matter. A small amount in a room isn’t going to do a lot of damage, but you certainly don’t want dust building up around electrical devices and outlets and increasing a fire risk.
The other issue with dust is that large clouds can become volatile and explosive. When you have the right consistency of dry dust particles circulating in an enclosed space and enough oxygen, a spark can lead to ignition.
This is worth remembering when carrying out those home improvements with sanders and saws. Excessive amounts of airborne wood and plaster dust in an unventilated room can be dangerous.
To summarize, there is the potential that large enough clouds of dust will trigger the sensors of a smoke detector. However, this is unlikely outside of workshops or during major renovation work.
A more common culprit for false alarms could be dust within the device. So, make sure that you get the device serviced, either personally or by your landlord, to keep it in the best possible condition. Don’t let dust reduce the effectiveness of your detectors.
