What Sound Do Home Smoke Detectors Put Out?

The Normal Alarm

• When the smoke detector senses smoke, the alarm it sounds is normally a persistent and loud beep. Depending on the particular smoke detector model, the sound may be a steady beep or it may be a staccato-type, but still constant beep. Along with the beeping, some smoke detectors also have a light that simultaneously flashes when the alarm sounds. The sound is the same whether there is an emergency situation or whether the detector senses the smoke from cooking or from a hot shower, or when dead insects clog the sensor chamber, creating a false alarm.

Low Battery Warning

• If the battery inside the smoke detector is weak and needs replacing, the device usually emits one intermittent beep as an alert. When you notice this type of sound from the device, remove the smoke detector cover, remove the battery and install a new one. Smoke detector batteries normally last for about one year. Also, if the detector is hard-wired into your home's electrical system, it may sound briefly after a power outage.

Strobe Lights

• To make certain that individuals with hearing impairments are not left without warning in the presence of fire or smoke, some smoke detectors use strobe technology as a visual alert. When these smoke detectors give the alarm, a strobe light flashes in addition to the beeping the device emits. Strobe light smoke detectors are often hard-wired instead of battery-powered.

Voice Sounds

• Because some individuals, especially children, may sleep through the warning sounds that a smoke detector emits, no matter how piercing, some smoke detectors give verbal, prerecording warnings, in addition to the loud beeping, as an alarm. These voice alerts not only give a warning of an emergency, such as a "Get out" command, but also inform the homeowner of needed maintenance, such as in a spoken "Low battery" message. For children, some smoke detectors allow parents to record alarm commands in their own voices, under the idea that the children will respond more quickly to a parent's voice.