Hi I needed some serious information for the safety of mine and my family’s, I just moved into a new house and I’m removing the smoke detectors because they are really yellow and look old. I was wondering I wanted to put photoelectric smoke alarms because they are better for fires but they haven’t been around for long and I wanna know is the infrared led dangerous in there and can it affect my eyes or my kids because I want my kids to grow up safe and I just don’t want to not be educated on what I buy. Someone please help
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3\$\begingroup\$ The light in a smoke detector is completely contained. You get more "exposure" from the LEDs in your TV remote controls. IR radiation at these levels is completely harmless \$\endgroup\$– Dave TweedCommented Jul 28, 2018 at 1:55
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\$\begingroup\$ If you want the best option for a smoke detector, you should be able to find multi function photoelectric and ionization ones. You can also get ones and other types of household sensors (broken glass, water/flood, temperature, etc) that will report their status to your mobile device. \$\endgroup\$– K HCommented Jul 28, 2018 at 2:22
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\$\begingroup\$ Nope not I’m a different person \$\endgroup\$– John mayCommented Jul 28, 2018 at 2:39
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\$\begingroup\$ @Johnmay Read the other question. They're asking essentially the same question, and it's been answered. \$\endgroup\$– user39382Commented Jul 28, 2018 at 3:10
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1\$\begingroup\$ sun hits your eyes with orders of magnitude more IR than even a broken-open detector. \$\endgroup\$– dandavisCommented Jul 28, 2018 at 6:00
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2 Answers
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You and your family are safe. IR radiation is low frequency 'heat' radiation, which if strong enough would be felt as heat.
The burners on your stove put out far more heat radiation. You must be confusing it with UV (Ultra-Violet) radiation which is very high frequency light. The sun puts out a lot of it, and that is what gives you sunburn.
Some white LED's put out a small amount of UV light and the manufacture often warns you if they do, as it can damage the retina in your eyes if you dare to stare at it. Some high-end smart phones use weak UV light to do a retina scan, but it is weak enough and brief enough to be safe.
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The LEDs inside the photelectric smoke alarms are low power (less than a TV remote-control) and very little infrared escapes from the detector (because the detection chamber is shaped to exclude light, and is all black inside).
answered Jul 28, 2018 at 2:26