Most people believe that smoke alarms only sound when there is a fire. So, do vapes set off a fire or smoke alarms? Well, it depends.

Household smoke sensors are designed to detect smoke and various airborne particles, including those released through vaping.

The smoke that vapes produce contains tiny droplets of chemical particles, such as nicotine, propylene glycol, water, and flavourings, which can all trigger smoke detectors.

However, because vape smoke is less dense and has smaller particles than cigarette smoke, it can take longer for smoke detectors to detect smoke, pick up on it and trigger an alarm.

Less vapour and small particles

Because vape smoke is released mainly in short bursts, it will quickly disperse into the atmosphere, and the particles can be too diluted for smoke alarms to immediately detect the presence of nicotine.

So while smoke detectors may be able to sense vaping emissions, they are not always sensitive enough to trigger a smoke warning.

Many people wonder if smoking vapes indoors will trigger a fire alarm, so they will often take themselves outdoors to smoke, as cigarette smokers do with the indoor smoking ban.

However, vapes are distinct from cigarettes, but vape smokers still need to be considerate about their use and how they affect anyone sharing the same indoor space and the community at large when vaping outdoors.

The popularity of e-cigarettes

With innovative new vape devices and a wide range of flavours and intensities of e-liquids available, including health-boosting CBD vaping juices, vaping is now accepted as a much healthier hobby or activity than smoking cigarettes.

There is no denying that e-cigarette use is growing at a fantastic rate, but one of the biggest questions is its safe use indoors. No one wants to be responsible for setting off a false alarm with their vape and causing an emergency fire evacuation at work, which would be incredibly embarrassing!

Using vape devices indoors

Cigarette and vape smoke contain airborne particles that can trip an indoor smoke alarm. But whether or not an alarm will be tripped can be down to the smoke detector design. Some are ionisation alarms that measure ionised air particles moving between two plates. The smoke alarm will trigger if the movement of ions is interrupted.

Some optical smoke alarms use optical light beams that set off a smoke alarm when smoke particles break the light beam. In most cases, modern smoke and fire alarms will trip when particles carried in the air get into the detector and break whatever circuit they operate on.

Normal indoor air doesn’t carry particles large enough to affect these alarms, but cigarette smoke and e-liquid vapour do. But again, it depends on the type and sensitivity of the indoor smoke detector.

Types of smoke detectors and fire alarms

If you plan to enjoy vaping indoors, whether at home or your workplace allows indoor vaping, there may be an array of smoke detectors in use within the building.

Most hotels, for example, will set their own rules about indoor vaping and may confine vaping to hotel rooms only, so it is worth checking their guidance about vaping on or outside their premises.

The likelihood of your vape vapour triggering an indoor alarm can vary according to what they are designed to detect and how good the ventilation is. If you work in an office or room ventilated with air conditioning, you are less likely to trigger any nearby smoke alarms.

Types of indoor smoke and fire alarms include the following:

• • Carbon Monoxide Detectors: These detectors are excellent for vaping. They only detect the presence of high levels of carbon monoxide that are a danger to life. Carbon monoxide is a compound produced by smouldering smoke or improperly burning fires. Vaping will not set off a carbon monoxide detector.
  • Heat Detectors: You are least likely to trigger a heat alarm detector by vaping. Heat detectors are designed to measure temperature – not smoke levels. They are activated by a rise in temperature in one area that the heat from your vape will never reach.

Ionised Smoke Detectors: These detectors have two built-in electrically charged plates that stream ionised particles backwards and forward. Any changes in this flow will trigger the alarm. There is a chance that vapour from vapes contains particles large enough to trigger this type of alarm, but they are not the most sensitive devices, so it isn’t guaranteed.

• Photoelectric Smoke Detectors: These are more sensitive to vape clouds that can break the beam of light between the emitter and sensor inside, so a large cloud of vapour can trigger an alarm. So if your home or workplace uses these optical alarms, the answer to ‘can vaping set off smoke alarms’ is yes!

Vaping in company

One of the most common reasons why vaping can set off a smoke or fire alarm is when many vapes are being used at once in an enclosed space or in the same room. It can also happen when vape smokers blow vapour directly into a smoke detector, overloading it with smoke particles.

Vape users should show common courtesy when choosing to vape indoors at work on in public spaces. If your workplace allows vaping, it is sensible to do this in a well-ventilated room next to an open window so they don’t set off smoke alarms.

Knowing where smoke alarms are situated at work can help you avoid vaping underneath or right next to particle detectors that can trigger a fire alarm. For those who love creating big vape clouds, it may be more polite to keep these outdoors and switch to a more discreet vape set or vape pen for indoor smoking.