Are there differences between regular smoke detectors vs. monitored fire alarms in New York City?

In the New York City smoke detector vs. monitored fire alarm debate, there’s easily only one champion. Smoke detectors are an essential line of defense in protecting your residence from emergency situations, but they have a few concerning limitations. Conversely, monitored fire alarms offer more means to discover a fire and are able to notify your support team when the unthinkable happens. Connecting your fire alarms to a comprehensive smart home also delivers various other perks that your regular smoke detectors can only hope for.

Your ordinary smoke alarms in New York City may be inadequate

Fire safety is important, and smoke detectors take on a vital role in shielding your family. Despite that fact, smoke detectors have various shortcomings. To illustrate, they are only able to react to smoke, not heat. If there is a blaze starting in your house, you would not be warned unless the smoke ascends to the smoke detector. While there are some other significant signals of fire -- including a sharp heat increase -- if there's no smoke, there is no warning from your smoke detector.

What’s more, smoke detectors only beep when they detect enough smoke. If a fire creeps along slowly at first, you may not be alerted until it's too late. Various smoke detectors employ dual sensors, which means they will detect smoke from both a blazing inferno and something less intense. If they do go off, it falls to the homeowner to call emergency services after they safely leave the property.

Monitored fire alarms provide more value than regular smoke detectors

Even though they have a similar appearance to regular smoke detectors, monitored fire alarms can do much more. If linked to a complete home security system, they can:

• Identify fire with different sensor types: Like an ordinary smoke detector, the monitored component can engage from a roaring blaze or smoldering embers. It will emit an easily audible alarm whenever it senses a potential disaster.

• Identify fire with a sudden heat surge: A monitored fire alarm can also activate if it senses an uncommon increase in heat. Typically, heat arrives prior to smoke. More means to uncover a fire equates to extra means to keep your family safe.

• Notifies your dedicated monitoring specialists: Fires will take place whether you are at your house or not. No matter of the situation, your fire alarms will alert your monitoring specialists, who can quickly place a call to the fire department. When seconds count, it's nice to realize that a trained professional is constantly keeping a watch of your residence.

• Connects to home automation: While the primary purpose of a fire alarm is to identify fire and request monitoring agents, it can also integrate with other automated equipment. To illustrate, a triggered alarm could make your system turn on the exhaust fan to impede the fire or initiate smart light bulbs so you may see the best way out of your home.

Your monitored fire alarms are a key element of a complete smart home

The best approach to optimize your fire alarms is to pair them with a Vivint home security system. Contact a Vivint specialist today and customize the most suitable smart home for your needs. Place a call to (332) 877-9062 or complete the form on this page to take the first step toward a safer property.