What is the difference between smoke detectors and smoke alarms?

Before smoke alarms became popular in the domestic sector, in Germany there were almost exclusively fire detection systems (e.g. in hospitals, warehouses, hotels). Early on the government created a corresponding standard in which the detectors were referred to as smoke alarms. However, the function of these detectors is not only to warn people of dangerous smoke concentrations by loud beeping, but also to report a fire directly to the fire department – even if there are no people in the building.

As smoke alarms became more widespread in homes, it was discovered that the name was already taken. From then on, the acoustic warning devices were referred to as “smoke alarms”. Even if in common usage we talk about smoke detectors, in most cases we are talking about smoke alarms. Our portfolio contains only such smoke alarms.