Vaping has become a popular choice for smokers instead of smoking tobacco-filled cigarettes. Vaping involves inhaling vapor rather than smoke – hence the name – using a battery-powered device rather than a cigarette that is lit and burned.
Vaping is a controversial topic given that it is a form of smoking but has been touted by some as being preferable to smoking cigarettes. Because vaping involves a device powered by a battery rather than a lit cigarette, there is also some debate on where it’s allowed.
Smoke detectors generally won’t detect vape smoke which is why it can be a problem in hotels, schools and other buildings but photoelectric smoke detectors are more likely to detect it than ionization detectors. Fire sprinklers that detect temperature will not be triggered by vape smoke.
What is vaping and why is it popular?
Vaping involves using a battery-powered e-cigarette with a cartridge that holds a liquid containing a mixture of flavor, nicotine and other chemicals instead of leaf tobacco and an atomizer that turns the liquid into vapor. An e-cigarette is used instead of a regular cigarette but unlike a cigarette, isn’t actually lit with a match or lighter.
While a standard tobacco cigarette is lit and burns, vaping involves heating a flavored liquid and inhaling the vapor that is produced. The “cool” factor, the choice of vape flavors and the discrete nature of being able to take an e-cigarette in and out of your pocket as needed are all reasons why vaping popularity has grown.
Research has shown that vaping in some ways is even more dangerous
than smoking cigarettes, particularly an increase in heart disease risk factors. As we’ll see below however, e-cigarettes are generally not as unhealthy as tobacco-burning products.
Having said that, the long term harmful effects of e-cigarettes aren’t necessarily known since vaping only became available in 2003.
Do smoke detectors detect vape?
Smoke detectors are designed to detect smoke and warn people of a possible fire but there are different types of smoke detectors on the market that are commercially available and depending on where they are located i.e. in a house, in an office building, in an aircraft toilet, etc.
Here are the common types of smoke detection devices and their ability to detect smoke produced by a vaping device:
Photoelectric smoke detectors
Photoelectric smoke detectors tend to respond better to smoke produced by a smoldering fire than ionization detectors. They use beams of light that when disrupted or broken, triggers the alarm.
Photoelectric smoke detectors are the most commonly sold type on the market and the ones that are most likely to be set off due to vape smoke. While the chances are relatively low, thick smoke can trigger the alarm.
Ionization smoke detectors
Ionization smoke detectors tend to respond better to smoke produced by a flaming fire than photoelectric detectors. Ionization smoke detectors use two electronically charged plates to detect smoke. When smoke or other denser air particles disrupt the electrical current between the plates, the alarm is triggered.
One downside of ionization detectors is the potential of a false alarm caused by steam from a shower if the bathroom isn’t well-ventilated.
Having said that, ionization smoke detectors are less likely to be triggered due to vape smoke than photoelectric detectors.
Photoelectric/Ionization combination smoke detectors
Combining both photoelectric and ionization technologies offers the best of both. In this regard, it’s a detector that should perform well at detecting both smoldering and flaming fires.
It’s possible that such a detector could be set off due to vape smoke but it’s less likely than more likely to occur.
Heat fire detectors
A heat detector is one often used in commercial buildings and hotels but are also available for home use. In the home, they shouldn’t be used in place of a smoke detector but could be used in rooms or areas where fire is possible and where other detectors could be triggered by false alarms due to dust, steam or contaminants.
So a kitchen, garage, workshop or laundry room are places that a heat fire detector is useful.
The two types of heat detectors are:
Fixed temperature heat detectors: These are triggered when the heat in a home reaches a specific temperature.
Rate-of-rise heat detectors: These are triggered when there is a rapid rise in temperature that can indicate a fire.
Since heat fire detectors detect heat and not smoke, they are unlikely to detect vape smoke since the temperature in the room you’re vaping in won’t increase to any degree.
Can hotels detect vape smoke in a hotel room?
Hotels can potentially detect vape smoke in a hotel room in several ways including:
- Through the use of smoke detectors.
- From furniture, beds, linens and other things in the hotel room which often retain the smell of smoke.
- Through the smell of smoke or a scent from the vape that leaves the hotel room and drifts into the hallway.
- Hotel cleaning staff who may smell the remnants of the smoke or see smoking paraphernalia left in the room.
- The use of modern technology such as the cloud-enabled FreshAir Sensor product which detects smoke in a room and can’t be disabled by the hotel guest.
Many hotels now either offer smoke free rooms or simply don’t allow smoking in the rooms full stop if local laws prohibit it, so ensuring there is no smoking occurring is important to them. If they are either offering smoke free rooms for people who want them or need them, they need to ensure the rules are being followed.
Hotels in the United States are legally required to use “hard-wired, single-station smoke detectors” with specific requirements depending on the size of the hotel.
But hotels can detect vape or other smoke in other ways.
Modern technology such as the FreshAir Sensor product mentioned above can be used within each room to detect cigarette, vape or other smoke and you may not even know the technology is there. It’s likely that moving forward, detection devices will become more adept at proving that smoking – including vaping – took place in a hotel room and costing the hotel guest accordingly, especially if in-room smoking is illegal in the area you’re staying in.
Will vaping set off a fire sprinkler?
Modern fire sprinkler systems are designed to detect actual fires rather than being set off accidentally by smoking whether from vaping or tobacco products. Sprinkler systems are generally programmed to trigger when a certain temperature in the room has been reached that would indicate an actual fire.
Fire sprinkler systems can differ slightly in terms of how they are programmed but many are set to trigger when a temperature level between 135°F and 165°F (57°C to 74°C) has been reached.
So vaping should not set off a fire sprinkler as the temperature in the room will not increase by any degree due to the act of vaping or smoking. Since fire sprinklers are detected by heat and not smoke, vaping is not something that would trigger the sprinkler. You’re more likely to trigger a smoke detector through vaping which although low odds, can occur.
What are the dangers of vaping?
Vaping is a concern to non-smoking advocates for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the cool factor that it often exudes in the eyes of young people. Vaping devices can be quite stylish and unique and many flavors of vaping liquids exist that offers different tastes to suit many smokers.
There is also a feeling that you aren’t really smoking since nothing is being lit or burned. There’s a further belief that it’s safer than smoking tobacco which isn’t actually the case since e-cigarettes contain the same addictive materials as tobacco cigarettes including nicotine.
Having said that, while a cigarette or other tobacco-burning product is generally smoked until it is finished, a vaping device can be puffed and then put away, possibly reducing the actual amount of smoking you do.
From a smoke production perspective, vaping devices produce large puffs of smoke so it’s very difficult to hide. It is very noticeable but unlike a cigarette which needs to be butted out since it’s lit, a vaping device can be quickly puffed and placed discreetly back in your pocket or bag without people noticing.
The ability to quickly vape in a bathroom, school, or other area that typically doesn’t allow smoking has become a major problem for many institutions.
Can you vape in non-smoking areas or is it considered smoking?
Vaping is considered a tobacco product since most vaping liquids contain nicotine which comes from tobacco. In that regard, vaping is akin to smoking and is considered as such.
If you’re in an area where smoking is prohibited, then vaping is also not allowed since it falls into the same category.
While vaping is generally considered to be less dangerous than smoking traditional tobacco products, vaping is still not considered to be safe.
It should be noted that there is some evidence from the UK that you may have a better chance of completely quitting smoking by replacing your tobacco products with e-cigarettes.
What states have banned vaping?
Presently, vaping has been banned or otherwise restricted indoors in a number of US states and jurisdictions but it’s best to consult your local area as laws are often updated and amended over time.
Beginning in 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) further decreed that e-cigarettes must be treated and sold as tobacco products and are not for sale to minors.
That same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that e-cigarettes be treated as regular cigarettes and therefore banned anywhere smoking is already prohibited such as indoors or in other non-smoking areas.
Summary
Some smoke detectors may be triggered due to vape smoke but it’s unlikely to occur in general terms.
Of the main types of smoke detectors available, the photoelectric smoke detector is more likely to be set off due to vape smoke. Having said that, smoke detectors are an important part of any home and shouldn’t be avoided due to fear of accidentally setting it off.
Fire sprinkler systems that are designed to be triggered by heat shouldn’t be affected by vape smoke since the temperature level in a room won’t be affected by smoking. Fire sprinkler systems are designed to react to an increase in temperature not the presence of smoke.
To avoid setting off any smoke alarm due to the large amount of smoke that vaping can produce:
- Vape outdoors when possible.
- If indoors, only vape in well-ventilated areas.
- Avoid vaping near a smoke or other alarm.
From a safety perspective, using both photoelectric and ionization detectors in your home is a good bet as is using combination alarms that combine the two technologies.
And if you can’t find a combination photoelectric/ionization smoke detector, you can consider buying both types and placing them throughout your house to be covered by both i.e. photoelectric and ionization smoke detectors on each floor of your home or as otherwise required.