Vapor can set off a smoke alarm. People argue about it, but I have done it myself, and this article goes through how the different detectors work, which ones react to vapor, and what that means in hotel rooms and on planes.
How the three kinds of alarm work
Detectors are built to avoid false alarms, yet cooking and heavy clouds still trip them now and then. Which one you are standing under makes a difference.
- Optical alarm: the type vapor is most likely to trigger. Inside is a beam of infrared light. Particles drifting into the chamber scatter that beam onto a light detector, and the alarm sounds. I have not dealt with many of these myself, but your home may well have one.
- Ionisation alarm: this one holds two electrically charged radioactive plates with a current running between them. Particles passing through disturb that current, and the break in it sets the alarm off.
- Heat alarm: usually found in kitchens. It responds to a sharp change in room temperature and not to particles, which is why a frying pan can trigger it with hardly any smoke in the air. Vapor alone should generally leave it quiet.
What happened when I tried it
I once exhaled straight into an ordinary household smoke alarm. It went off at once with a piercing shriek, and I ended up holding a pillow over it. It only lasted a few seconds, though it seemed far longer.
The practical lesson: in a room with a detector, do not aim your clouds at it. Keep them pointed elsewhere and you will usually be fine. Several people vaping in one room is a different matter, because the combined volume can reach the sensor even from several feet away.
Fire alarms are a separate system
A fire alarm is not the same thing as a smoke alarm, but it deserves the same respect. Fog machines running on PG (propylene glycol) have been found to trigger fire alarms, and PG is one of the main ingredients of vape juice. A fog machine puts out far more than any vape device, so the comparison only goes so far. Still, it shows that vapor, and not just smoke, can do it. Vapor also clears much faster than smoke does, so this is something to be aware of more than something to worry about.
Vaping in a hotel room
There is no single answer, because policies differ from hotel to hotel.
- In a smoking room you should be fine to vape.
- Where the hotel bans vaping outright, walking through the lobby and out the front doors takes about five minutes.
- Plenty of hotels have no vaping policy at all, in which case you may well be able to vape in your room.
Hotel detectors tend to be considerably more sensitive than the ones in homes, since they are there to protect guests, so find out where the alarm is before you start. If you are worried, open a window, use the bathroom, or wait until you are outside. A nic-salt pod or a pen-style device is the easier choice here: these usually put out small, discreet amounts of vapor and should not cause trouble.
Vaping in a plane bathroom
I flew from New York City to Los Angeles for my brother’s wedding, a non-stop flight of seven hours, and the nicotine cravings were much worse than I had expected. Vaping and smoking are both prohibited from the moment you enter the airport. Signs pointed smokers to an outdoor area, but using it meant going through security all over again, so I skipped it. I was tempted to duck into a bathroom for a quick puff, and I am glad I did not.
Aircraft detectors are extremely sensitive, for obvious reasons, and a plane bathroom is tiny, so vapor reaches the sensor almost immediately. A passenger who vaped on Southwestern Airlines’ Flight 3564 forced the plane into an emergency landing; WBAL-TV covered the incident. Beyond a diverted flight, you risk heavy fines or even jail. There are many stories online about people who decided the rules did not apply to them, and each one becomes another argument for banning vaping altogether.
Some airlines offer vaporless devices for passengers who need nicotine. Otherwise, expect airports to be difficult and frustrating places for a vaper, and plan to wait until you have left the terminal at the other end. A craving can feel like the only thing that matters while it lasts, but the first puff is more enjoyable once you have arrived.
Final thoughts
Most vapers respect the rules. Vaping is a privilege that comes with a lot of regulation, because in the end it is a nicotine product, and until it is better understood, patience with those rules is the sensible course. If anything here is unclear, you can reach us by email or phone, and we would like to hear your own stories about badly timed cravings in the comments. Our next article looks at the term “secondhand vapor” and what it really means.