Smoke alarm buyers guide (by Fire & Rescue NSW)
Photoelectric vs ionisation? Fire & Rescue NSW recommends the installation of photoelectric smoke alarms. Photoelectric alarms are more advanced and are widely regarded as being superior to ionisation alarms in most circumstances. They can respond faster than other alarms to most fire types and are less likely to cause annoying false alarms. Photoelectric alarms are particularly effective at detecting smouldering fires, which provides the earliest possible warning of a small developing fire. If a smoke alarm has a radioactive warning symbol on it, it’s an ionisation smoke alarm. How many do I need to buy? In addition to the minimum requirement of one smoke alarm per level, Fire & Rescue NSW recommends installing smoke alarms



