USI IoPhic Smoke & Fire Alarm

Please note that this does NOT have both ionic and photoelectric sensors as the name “IoPhic” would suggest. It is an ionic detector that has circuitry to filter out false alarms and react faster to smouldering fires, like a photoelectric detector. I don’t know how well the circuitry works, but I’m pretty sure it is nowhere as good as having a dual sensor detector.

ON the plus side, it is well constructed and easy to dismount (to clean) and the battery compartment is accessible without dismounting. It even comes with a 9V battery.

Some people mistakenly think that USI is an off brand. That’s far from true. The IoPHic technology, for example, is exclusive to them. I can’t imagine an off-brand having an R&D team to develop an exclusive circuit and chip. If you look in the unit, you’ll see an IC chip (microprocessor) developed just for this smoke detector. In fact, it has 28 pins which hints at its sophistication.

The detector even has two patents: #D627671 and #7893825.

Also, according to Patentbuddy, the manufacturer (Universal Security Instruments, Inc) owns 23 patents, so they’re actually a reputable company. And the fact that they custom-designed a microprocessor just for the IoPhic technology means that they don’t just file patents, but actually put them into practice. That doesn’t prove, of course, that IoPhic technology is any good, although they reference an independent test showing its advantages.

http://www.patentbuddy.com/Company/Profile/UNIVERSAL-SECURITY-INSTRUMENTS-INC./195899;jsessionid=D04B9E6FFA913C3B4280BF42688D0971

One last thing. The instructions are also top rate, which is often not the case in cheaper brands (which are often foreign). Also, it has a 10 year warranty which is more than many major brands (generally-speaking, the Americium in ionization sensors are expended within 7 years so I’m somewhat skeptical about the 10 year warranty).

Hey, why am I not getting any Quality Posts for the above? Huh? Huh? Oh yeah, it’s a Wootoff… :slight_smile:

Are they inter-connectable? I assume not since not mentioned. Deal breaker for me.