Studies demonstrate that smoke alarms save more lives than any other fire prevention measure. Smoke alarms provide the earliest warning of both fire and smoke - which is important since fire can burn a two-storey home to the ground in minutes. 

But not all smoke alarms are created equally.  Some are better at sensing slow-burning, smoldering fires, while others warn of fast, hot blazes.  Alarms employing ionisation technology generally sense fast burning fires more quickly than alarms employing photoelectric technology.  Smoke alarms employing photoelectric technology generally sense smoldering fires more quickly than alarms using ionisation technology. 

While all smoke alarms have limitations, smoke alarms employing either ionisation or photoelectric technologies provide to the occupant reasonable notice of the presence of fire or smoke in the proximity of the alarm.