- Author
-
Gawin, W. M.
- Title
- Mobile Home Smoke Detector Siting Study. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBSIR 76-1016,
May 1976,
54 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
fire detectors
|
photoelectric detectors
|
detector sensitivity
|
mobile homes
|
smoke detectors
- Abstract
- An investigation was conducted to evaluate the significance of smoke detector locations to response time for a specific set of fire conditions in a mobile home. Parameters having the potential of affecting response time include: the physical location within a mobile home such as inside wall vs outside wall or wall vs ceiling installations; the impact of air circulation resulting from the operation of the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system; and the basic detector parameter of smoke detector alarm threshold. For the study only photoelectric-type smoke detectors were used. These detectors utilize the Tyndall Effect in their sensing mechanism. This limitation was imposed to limit the number of variables. Detector response was evaluated for the fires in both smoldering and flaming modes. The results of the study provide a case for wall installations as opposed to ceiling installations. Further, inside wall installations may be marginally superior to outside wall installations. The most significant finding of the study suggests that, when in operation, the forced-air circulating system has a major delaying effect on detector response time to a given fire size.