Skip to main content    

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

**Official websites use .gov**              A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.            

**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**              A **lock** (  LockA locked padlock) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.            

https://www.nist.gov/el/nist-report-test-fr-4019

            -  Topics  -  All Topics 
-  Advanced communications 
-  Artificial intelligence 
-  Bioscience 
-  Buildings and construction 
-  Chemistry 
-  Climate 
-  Cybersecurity 
-  Electronics 
-  Energy 
-  Environment 
-  Fire 
-  Forensic science 
-  Health 
-  Information technology 
-  Infrastructure 
-  Manufacturing 
-  Materials 
-  Mathematics and statistics 
-  Metrology 
-  Nanotechnology 
-  Neutron research 
-  Performance excellence 
-  Physics 
-  Public safety 
-  Resilience 
-  Standards 
-  Transportation 
 
            -  Publications 
            -  Labs & Major Programs  -  Laboratories    -  Communications Technology Laboratory 
  -  Engineering Laboratory 
  -  Information Technology Laboratory 
  -  Material Measurement Laboratory 
  -  Physical Measurement Laboratory 
-  User Facilities    -  NIST Center for Neutron Research 
  -  CNST NanoFab 
-  Research Test Beds 
-  Research Projects 
-  Tools & Instruments 
-  Major Programs    -  Baldrige Performance Excellence Program 
  -  CHIPS for America Initiative 
  -  Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) 
  -  Office of Advanced Manufacturing 
  -  Special Programs Office 
  -  Technology Partnerships Office 
 
            -  Services & Resources  -  Standards and Measurements    -  Calibration Services 
  -  Laboratory Accreditation (NVLAP) 
  -  Quality System 
  -  Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) 
  -  Standards.gov 
  -  Time Services 
  -  Office of Weights and Measures 
-  Software 
-  Data    -  Chemistry WebBook 
  -  National Vulnerability Database 
  -  Physical Reference Data 
  -  Standard Reference Data (SRD) 
-  Storefront 
-  License & Patents 
-  Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) 
-  NIST Research Library 
 
            -  News & Events  -  News 
-  Events 
-  Blogs 
-  Feature Stories 
-  Awards 
-  Video Gallery 
-  Image Gallery 
-  Media Contacts 
 
            -  About NIST  -  About Us    -  Leadership 
  -  Organization Structure 
  -  Budget & Planning 
-  Contact Us 
-  Visit 
-  Careers    -  Student programs 
-  Work with NIST 
-  History    -  NIST Digital Archives 
  -  NIST Museum 
  -  NIST and the Nobel 
-  Educational Resources 
 

## Engineering Laboratory

-  About EL  Expand or Collapse    -  Careers 
  -  Divisions & Offices 
  -  Research Opportunities 
  -  Research Facilities 
  -  Staff & Organization 
  -  Standards Activities 
  -  Contact Us 
-  Goals & Programs  Expand or Collapse    -  Advanced Manufacturing  Expand or Collapse      -  Measurement Science for Additive Manufacturing 
    -  Measurement Science for Manufacturing Robotics 
    -  Advanced Manufacturing Data Infrastructure and Analytics 
  -  Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Manufacturing, Materials, and Infrastructure  Expand or Collapse      -  Embedded Intelligence in Buildings 
    -  Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Buildings  Expand or Collapse        -  Current Activities 
  -  Disaster-Resilient Buildings, Infrastructure, and Communities  Expand or Collapse      -  Community Resilience 
    -  Earthquake Risk Reduction in Buildings and Infrastructure 
    -  Engineered Materials for Resilient Infrastructure 
    -  Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings 
    -  Fire Risk Reduction in Communities 
    -  Structural Performance under Multi-hazards 
-  Products & Services  Expand or Collapse    -  Extramural Grants Program 
  -  Research Information Service 
  -  Software 
  -  Tools & Instruments 
-  Staff Directory 
-  Popular Links  Expand or Collapse    -  Applied Economics Office 
  -  Resilience  Expand or Collapse      -  Disaster Resilience Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) 
  -  Fire.gov 
  -  NFRL 
  -  Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility 

## Connect with us

GovDelivery

# NIST Report of Test FR 4019

## Share

Facebook

Linkedin

Twitter

Email

### Thomas G. Cleary Building and Fire Research Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology

This Report of Test presents data from a series of tests designed to study common household nuisance alarms as part of research into the performance of smoke alarms.

## Introduction

The purpose of these tests was to study common household nuisance alarm scenarios and develop a basis for residential nuisance source testing. All tests were performed in the manufactured home used fire test series 1while it was located inside the large fire laboratory at NIST. The full details of these tests can be found in NIST Technical Note 1455 [1]. NIST TN 1455 also includes uncertainty estimates for each measurement. The test data from the nuisance source and controlled incipient fire source tests are given in spreadsheet electronic files. 

## Test Data

The table below cross-references Excel workbook filenames with the corresponding tests described in Chapter 6 of NIST TN 1455. The data include the aerosol concentrations, flow velocities, temperature, relative humidity, and detector sensor outputs gathered for each test. Each test workbook consists of three worksheets that contain data from instruments, sensors, and velocity probes. Please refer to Chapter 6 for details on these measurements. Individual sensor outputs were presented in engineering units where the output voltages of the photo and ionization units were expressed as equivalent extinction values in the FE/DE during smoldering cotton wick calibration tests, and the CO cell output was related to the CO concentrations developed in the cotton wick calibration tests. Two caveats must be given regarding this data set. First, zero offset adjustments and filtering of the sensor data should be conducted to eliminate calibration offset shifts and spurious data points that occasionally occur, and second, these files often include data after the nominal end of the test, when doors may have been opened, food removed from heat sources, etc. The test descriptions and plots in Chapter 6 indicate the nominal end of each test along with the timeline of events up to that point. The test series ran consecutively from MHN06 to MNH47 (data for the first five tests were not included). Those tests that present results not included in Chapter 6 were nominal repeats of other tests.

## Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the efforts of M. Selepak in his assistance with running the tests.

The home smoke alarm project was sponsored by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fire Administration, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Underwriters Laboratories. The National Fire Protection Association (In-kind contribution), and National Research Council Canada, (In-kind contribution).

## References

[1] Bukowski, R.W., Peacock, R.D., Averill, J.D., Cleary, T.G., Bryner, T.G., Walton, W.D., Reneke, P.A., and Kuligowski, E.D., Performance of Home Smoke Alarms: Analysis of the Response of Several Available Technologies in Residential Fire Settings, Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1455 (2003).

Buildings and ConstructionBuildings and ConstructionFireFire detection

### HEADQUARTERS

301-975-2000

Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices

TwitterFacebookLinkedInInstagramYouTubeGiphyRSS FeedMailing List

Feedback

            -  Site Privacy 
            -  Accessibility 
            -  Privacy Program 
            -  Copyrights 
            -  Vulnerability Disclosure 
            -  No Fear Act Policy 
            -  FOIA 
            -  Environmental Policy 
            -  Scientific Integrity 
            -  Information Quality Standards 
            -  Commerce.gov 
            -  Science.gov 
            -  USA.gov 
            -  Vote.gov