Gas Detector vs Multi-Gas Detector: Home Alarm or Confined-Space Monitor?
A gas detector is a fixed home alarm for one fuel. A multi-gas detector is a wearable confined-space monitor that reads LEL, oxygen, CO and H2S together.
Read Article→Learning Center
Plain-language explanations of the measurements, sensors and numbers behind environmental monitoring.
What Is Solar Irradiance?
The power of sunlight arriving on a surface, in watts per square meter. The input side of every solar calculation.
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Plug-In Energy Monitor vs Whole-Home Monitor
One device at a time, or the whole house by circuit. Different questions, and most homes benefit from both.
Read Article→Standby Power Explained: Why Devices Use Energy While Off
Off is rarely off. Remote receivers, clocks, network links and chargers keep drawing watts around the clock.
Read Article→How Much Electricity Does a 100-Watt Device Use?
0.1 kWh per hour, 2.4 kWh per day if it never stops. At a typical tariff, a few cents an hour.
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How to Test a Gas Leak Detector
Test button: power and horn on a fixed alarm. Unlit-lighter butane puff: sensor response on a handheld sniffer. Bump test: accuracy on meters that show a number.
Read Article→What Is a Kilowatt-Hour?
One thousand watts for one hour. The unit on your bill, and the one that turns wattage into money.
Read Article→Watts vs Volts vs Amps: A Practical Explanation
Pressure, flow and power. Volts push, amps flow, watts is the work getting done.
Read Article→Gas Detector Placement Near a Furnace or Water Heater
Put a combustible gas alarm in the same room as the furnace or water heater, high for natural gas or low for propane, and out of the heat and exhaust path.
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What Does LEL Mean on a Gas Detector?
LEL is the lowest gas concentration in air that can ignite. A 10 percent LEL reading means one tenth of that amount. Fixed alarms trip at 10 to 25 percent LEL.
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What Is Continuity and Why Do Meters Beep?
An unbroken path for current. The beeper is a resistance test with a threshold, so you can keep your eyes on the probes.
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What Does Natural Gas Smell Like?
Natural gas smells like rotten eggs or sulfur, but only because utilities add a mercaptan odorant. Raw methane has no smell at all.
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