Reducing the Risk of Lithium Battery Fires at Home with SafeLink
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Lithium-ion batteries have exploded in popularity in recent years due to their high energy density and long life cycle, meaning they can be built smaller and hold a charge longer than other types of batteries. At the same time, there has been a growing number of incidents of fires at homes and even on planes thought to be caused by lithium batteries. Before you rush to dispose of every lithium-ion battery in your home, scroll down to read about the causes of lithium battery fires and the best step you can take to prevent them in your home.
Lithium Batteries: What are the Risks?
If you’ve heard about fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, you may be asking yourself if it’s something you really need to worry about or if these are just rare isolated incidents. While it’s true that lithium batteries catching fire is rare, the associated risk means that it’s something you should be aware of.
Because the use of lithium batteries has skyrocketed in recent years, you likely have a number of them around your home already.
You can find lithium-ion batteries in:
- Mobile phones
- Electric toothbrushes
- Laptop computers and tablets
- Electric scooters
- Vapes
So if you do have lithium batteries in your home, what are the risks? Most incidents with lithium-ion batteries occur when they are incorrectly produced, transported, stored, or disposed of.
Because lithium batteries are extremely temperature sensitive, the main risk is something called thermal runaway; a condition where the battery’s temperature rises rapidly and uncontrollably, leading to an explosion of fire. And because of the nature of these fires, the flames spread quickly and are hard to extinguish, easily causing injury or death.
What’s the Solution?
As consumers, many of the risks associated with lithium batteries are out of our control. That being said, it’s always a good idea to buy high-quality products to reduce the risk of ending up with an inferior battery.
In addition to making an effort to buy quality products and follow the directions of the manufacturer when dealing with products containing lithium-ion batteries, you can take things one step further.
SafeLink from emerald is designed to protect your home from dangers—including fires caused by lithium-ion batteries. By connecting the EMS app with your wireless smoke alarms, this handy little device can help prevent false alarms and notify you sooner in the event of a real threat, whether you’re at home or not.
How does SafeLink work?
Setting up SafeLink is quick and easy, and you won’t even need an electrician. Find a central location in your home to keep your SafeLink. From there, follow the pairing instructions in the EMS app on your phone. This fully-interconnected system will ensure you and your home have maximum protection from fires. While the robust design of the smoke alarms helps prevent nuisance alarms while responding quicker to smouldering fires (like those caused by lithium-ion batteries), SafeLink will prompt your EMS app to notify you of any real danger immediately, whether you’re at home or not.
