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Home Smoke Alarm Project, Alarm Response to Nuisance Sources
Report of Test FR 4019
December, 2003

Thomas G. Cleary
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology

This Report of Test presents data from a series of tests designed to study common household nuisance alarms as part of research into the performance of smoke alarms.

Introduction

The purpose of these tests was to study common household nuisance alarm scenarios and develop a basis for residential nuisance source testing. All tests were performed in the manufactured home used fire test series 1while it was located inside the large fire laboratory at NIST. The full details of these tests can be found in NIST Technical Note 1455 [1]. NIST TN 1455 also includes uncertainty estimates for each measurement. The test data from the nuisance source and controlled incipient fire source tests are given in spreadsheet electronic files. 

Test Data

The table below cross-references Excel workbook filenames with the corresponding tests described in Chapter 6 of NIST TN 1455. The data include the aerosol concentrations, flow velocities, temperature, relative humidity, and detector sensor outputs gathered for each test. Each test workbook consists of three worksheets that contain data from instruments, sensors, and velocity probes. Please refer to Chapter 6 for details on these measurements. Individual sensor outputs were presented in engineering units where the output voltages of the photo and ionization units were expressed as equivalent extinction values in the FE/DE during smoldering cotton wick calibration tests, and the CO cell output was related to the CO concentrations developed in the cotton wick calibration tests. Two caveats must be given regarding this data set. First, zero offset adjustments and filtering of the sensor data should be conducted to eliminate calibration offset shifts and spurious data points that occasionally occur, and second, these files often include data after the nominal end of the test, when doors may have been opened, food removed from heat sources, etc. The test descriptions and plots in Chapter 6 indicate the nominal end of each test along with the timeline of events up to that point. The test series ran consecutively from MHN06 to MNH47 (data for the first five tests were not included). Those tests that present results not included in Chapter 6 were nominal repeats of other tests.

Alarm Response to Nuisance Sources

Test filename	Description	Test Referenced in Chapter 6
MHN06.xls	Toasted bread, fan off	Figure 125
MHN07.xls	Toasted bread, fan off (open window)	Figure 126
MHN08.xls	225 g of bacon on gas burner, fan off	Figure 131
MHN09.xls	225 g of bacon on gas burner, fan off	Figure 132
MHN10.xls	Broiled pizza, fan off	Figure 145
MHN11.xls	150 g, (1/3 package) of spaghetti, fan off	Figure 150
MHN12.xls	300 g (2/3 package) of spaghetti, fan off	Figure 151
MHN13.xls	14 g (1 tbls) butter, fan off	Figure 135
MHN14.xls	14 g (1 tbls) butter, fan off	Figure 136
MHN15.xls	Two cigarettes, fan off	Figure 154
MHN16.xls	Four hamburgers broiled, fan off	Figure 148
MHN17.xls	Four hamburgers broiled, fan on	Figure 149
MHN18.xls	10 tortillas, fan off	Figure 143
MHN19.xls	xThree hamburgers fried, fan off	Figure 140
MHN20.xls	Two bagel halves toasted, fan off	Figure 129
MHN21.xls	Two bagel halves toasted, fan on	Figure 130
MHN22.xls	Toasted bread, fan on	Figure 127
MHN23.xls	Toasted bread, fan on	Figure 128
MHN24.xls	225 g (1/2 package) of spaghetti, lid on, fan off	Figure 152
MHN25.xls	Three hamburgers fried, fan on (open window)	Figure 141
MHN26.xls	Three hamburgers fried, fan on	Figure 142
MHN27.xls	225 g (1/2 package) of spaghetti, lid on, fan off	Results not included
MHN28.xls	14 g (1 tbls) margarine, cast iron pan, fan off	Results not included
MHN29.xls	14 g (1 tbls) margarine, cast iron pan, fan on	Figure 139
MHN30.xls	14 g (1 tbls) butter, cast iron pan, fan on	Figure 138
MHN31.xls	14 g (1 tbls) butter, cast iron pan, fan off	Figure 137
MHN32.xls	Bake/broil pizza, fan off	Figure 146
MHN33.xls	Bake/broil pizza, fan on	Figure 147
MHN34.xls	450 g of french fried potatoes, fan off	Figure 144
MHN35.xls	Four tea candles, fan off	Figure 153
MHN36.xls	225 g of bacon on electric range, fan off	Figure 133
MHN37.xls	225 g of bacon on electric range, fan on	Figure 134
MHN38.xls	Two cigarettes, fan off	Figure 155
MHN39.xls	Four hamburgers broiled, fan on	Results not included
MHN40.xls	Smoldering PU foam block, fan off, (flamed)	Figure 160
MHN41.xls	Smoldering PU foam block, fan off  (stopped)	Figure 161
MHN42.xls	Smoldering PU foam block, fan on	Figure 162
MHN43.xls	Smoldering PU foam block, fan off	Figure 163
MHN44.xls	Eight wood blocks on hotplate, fan off	Figure 158
MHN45.xls	Eight wood blocks on hotplate, fan on	Figure 159
MHN46.xls	32 cotton wicks, fan off	Figure 156
MHN47.xls	32 cotton wicks, fan on	Figure 157

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the efforts of M. Selepak in his assistance with running the tests.

The home smoke alarm project was sponsored by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fire Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Underwriters Laboratories. The National Fire Protection Association (In-kind contribution), and National Research Council Canada, (In-kind contribution).

References

[1] Bukowski, R.W., Peacock, R.D., Averill, J.D., Cleary, T.G., Bryner, T.G., Walton, W.D., Reneke, P.A., and Kuligowski, E.D., Performance of Home Smoke Alarms: Analysis of the Response of Several Available Technologies in Residential Fire Settings, Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1455 (2003).