Safety Siren Pro Series HS71512 3 Radon Gas Detector
by Pro Series
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Safety Siren Pro Series HS71512 3 Radon Gas Detector
Customer Review: I Don't Trust It
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading a review and ranking of Radon detectors in Consumer Reports (September 2008), and discovering Radon was the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer, I decided to test my recently finished basement. I bought the Safety Siren Pro Series HS71512 3 Radon Gas Detector ($130), and an Accustar Alpha Track Test Kit AT 100/Radon Gas Testing unit ($31.82), both from/through Amazon for comparison purposes. The Accustar was well rated for accuracy at Consumer Reports, but I wanted an electronic model for repeated use in various locations.
The Safety Siren Pro was simple to use after reviewing the directions. Locate it in an appropriate place, plug it in and wait for the short-term readings to appear; press the menu button to select long-term readings. Testing occurred from September 2009 through January 2010. Initial short-term test readings were at 9.2 pCi/L. The unit was placed and left undisturbed for 12-15 days, and then moved to other rooms in the basement for comparison, including a small enclosed area that includes two sump pumps. Long-term readings were consistent in all locations, ranging from 10.2 to 15.6, averaging around 14.2. The reading in an upstairs, seldom-used bedroom was 12.4. The furnace duct in the room was closed and the door shut.
Testing of the Accustar Alpha Track Test Kit began at the same time (Sept. 2009). The unit is to be used for long-term testing ranging from three months to one year. It was put in a TV room away from foot traffic & HVAC ducts, and left undisturbed for six months, then mailed to Accustar for analysis. The results were available at their on-line site within two weeks, with a copy sent to my email address. The resulting reading was 8.7 pCi/L, on the average, 40% lower than the Safety Siren Pro.
Both test units showed a unacceptably high level of Radon in my home. The higher readings of the Safety Siren Pro, however, made me somewhat anxious. At this point, I suppose it would be appropriate to conduct one more test to establish a consensus. But I think I won't. My next step will be to explore Do-It-Yourself options for mitigation, and to have discussions with a licensed, professional mitigator.
Customer Review: Useful, but not accurate
Summary: 3 Stars
I have used the device in short-term mode for the last few weeks, and have found it to be useful for judging general radon levels, but not the accuracy achieved by professional testing equipment. It registered 6.4 in my basement after we insulated the house. I had a mitigation system installed and the next readings were 1.0 after 2 days wait for the system to work. I decided to have a professional come in and do testing - and over the course of the 3 days he left his equipment to run, I had the Siren placed right next to it with a memory reset. His equipment, post mitigation, averaged 0.2, and the siren showed 1.0. Not a huge discrepancy, but one that would have prompted me to explore more mitigation options using the Siren alone, as I wanted the level in my house to be that of average outdoor air - 0.4. The EPA standard of 4.0 is just plain not safe - in fact they say that you should get it as close to .4 as possible. I will continue to use the device in my basement for the longer term. However, read the fine print in the manual about calibration. Professional units need to be calibrated to read radon levels accurately almost on a yearly basis. This unit can be re-calibrated for a fee of $75, and you need to send it back to the company. So it may not be very useful after a year, although it is cheaper to re-calibrate than to purchase a new one. I have also seen online that you need to vacuum out the grills on the unit once a month, as the glass technology used tends to let particles accumulate.
My suggestion is to back up your readings with a professional if you want to see dead accurate results. My professional test over 3 days cost $115. And if you have granite counter tops in your kitchen, do yourself a favor and have them test for radioactivity (and therefore radon). All granite contains uranium, I have found, and it could contribute to radon levels. Luckily, the absolute black granite I have had negligible radioactivity above background levels - but the possibility of higher readings is out there, if very slim. Peace of mind is of paramount importance to me though.
Customer Review: Important safety device
Summary: 5 Stars
If your home includes a basement, and you live in an area of the country where in-ground radon gas is common, the Series 3 Safety Siren Radon detector is a good investment in your health. The device is easy to use, and easy to understand. It could save you and your family from developing lung cancer from long-term exposure to the decay of radon gas in your home.
I've been using the Safety Siren devices for years now, since I discovered my new home had a radon problem, and I have wanted to monitor the success of mitigation efforts. I recently replaced a Series 2 device with the Series 3 device because the Series 3 provides readings in tenths, rather than just in whole numbers. This feature makes the device much more useful to someone who has a radon problem, since you can experiment with various strategies for reducing radon concentrations, and you can see in one day what changes in concentration are occurring as a result of your efforts. The "short-term" reading provided by the device is a running average over the last seven days. But when the readings are provided in tenths rather than whole numbers, that reveals even small changes in the average, and so trends can be much more quickly discovered.
I think it's a good idea to plug the device into a surge protector that will clean up the power coming in. It also needs to be kept away from sources of electrical "noise"; too much noise, and you'll get error messages from the device. So, read the little instruction manual that comes with it.
My only gripe about this device is that the manual does not make it clear that when the long-term radon reading is four or higher (which is considered to be too high to be safe), the only way to see the short-term reading is to press the menu button. The short-term reading will not stay on the display when the button is released -- the displayed reading immediately reverts to long-term. This does prevent people from thinking they have no problem with radon merely because they get a low short-term reading, but it could have been explained better in the manual.
Customer Review: Excellent, simple radon detector
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased two of these units because the house we were testing indicated a very high radon level, and we wanted a second unit as a check on the first. In side-by-side comparison, both units indicated almost the same levels. We have been using them now for about eight months, in areas with radon levels from 1.0 pC/l to over 40 pC/l.
This unit appears to be the least expensive continuous-reading radon detector on the market. It is small, and it has no special installation requirements. Just place the unit where you want to test the radon level, and plug it in. The unit begins to indicate the radon level after 48 hours of operation.
The unit has a single display, which reads in picocuries per liter, the standard unit for measuring radon level. It has a single menu button, which performs various functions. The button toggles between two time periods, a short period that averages the previous seven days, and a long period that averages the total time since the unit was last reset by the user. The instructions are clear, and there is not much of a learning curve.
The unit has one annoying quirk. If the radon level exceeds 4.0 pC/l, the display will lock into long-term mode, making it impossible to observe the short-term effect of changing conditions, such as weather, opening windows, etc., without repeatedly resetting the unit. But, a call to the manufacturer revealed that pressing briefly on the menu button allows you to get a quick glance at the seven-day average.
In summary, this unit appears to be the only good choice within its price range. If you suspect a radon problem, the danger justifies getting a continuous-reading detector, such as this one, rather than a cheap one-shot test kit.
Customer Review: Warning: Can give misleading readings
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been using two of these continuously for years in our basement. I thought we had a mild radon problem. Readings ranging from rare 3 to as high as 7 typically 4 or 5. But it didnt follow the usual seasonal pattern. At least in my area radon readings are usually highest in the winter. Yet our readings were lowest in the winter, highest in the summer.
Then on a hunch, I wondered if maybe humidity in the basement was making this read incorrectly. Humidity is much higher in the basement in the summer. I bought a dehumidifier a month ago and since then our readings have ranged from 2-3 usually 3. You must understand that in 5 years in this home we have never before seen a reading of 2 in the basement, and 3 has been as rare as a blue moon.
I'm not sure what to believe our radon level is anymore. I plan to do more charcoal tests and a long term test to better evaluate it.
The description of the item mentions something about humidity, but I haven't been able to find anything which describes a relationship between humidity levels and what this unit reads.
Update 12/2010: I should have updated a while ago. Back in 2008 I did several canister tests both short and long term. In general the short term canister tests (several) did match the results from the device fairly closely. I then went ahead and had the radon mitigated and performed radon tests before and after. Again the results match reasonably closely. After mitigation, my unit shows a reading of 1.2-1.8 while the expensive calibrated official test shows readings around 0.6-0.8. In either case mitigation has made the level apparently safe for me although my electric bill has gone up more than expected.