Mitre 10 and Hammer Hardware will immediately pull stock of ionisation-type smoke alarms after a Consumer NZ recommendation said they perform too poorly.
- Consumer NZ calls for ionisation-type smoke alarms to be pulled from shelves
- Kiwis urged to check smoke alarm expiration dates
PlaceMakers and Bunnings Warehouse said they will also discontinue selling the alarms once their current stock runs out.
While any smoke alarm is better than none, Consumer NZ head of testing Dr Paul Smith last month found photoelectric smoke alarms perform much better than ionisation types.
"Photoelectric are absolutely fine at responding to all types of fire - ionisation are not very good at responding to slow-burning, smouldering fires that generate a lot of smoke before they burst into flames."
These types of smouldering fires can be caused faulty electrical wiring, curtains draped over a heater, or a hot ember igniting upholstery foam - all of which make it less likely you can get out of your home safely.
Ionisation smoke alarms can be identified from a radioactive symbol somewhere on the alarm body, but it may be underneath - so you might need to remove it to check.
Consumer NZ advises people not to remove working ionisation alarms, but to also fit photoelectric models, at least in hallways and escape routes.
Newshub.
