Why We Built VibeAlert
A close call in our own home changed everything — and led to a product we believe can save lives.
How We Started
It started with a fire in our own kitchen.
Last year, a fire started in our kitchen late in the evening while my wife was already sound asleep. It was a very scary experience, and we were lucky to escape without physical harm.
I was just getting ready to go to sleep when I noticed something smelled odd. I got up to check it out — and when I turned the corner, I couldn’t see the other side of the house because it was full of smoke.
When I got to the kitchen I could see that the microwave and the cabinets above it had flames coming out of them, and the fire had already spread to the wall and ceiling.
I grabbed the fire extinguisher we keep in the kitchen and was able to put out the flames — but the fire was still smoldering inside the wall and ceiling. I rushed in to wake my wife, who was still sleeping even though the smoke alarms were going off. When I asked her later, she said she thought she heard them but fell back asleep.
It was a frightening experience and one that made me realize the importance of having effective smoke alarms. As someone with a hearing impairment myself, I know firsthand how easy it is to miss the sound of a beeping alarm. This is why we created a new kind of smoke alarm — one that can wake you up even if you are completely deaf.
It is my hope that this product will help save lives and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“I built VibeAlert because I lived through the fear of a house fire — and because I know what it means to not be able to rely on a standard smoke alarm. If this product saves even one person or family from what we went through, it will have been worth it.”
— Kevin, Founder of VibeAlert
Why Standard Smoke Alarms Are Not Enough
Most people believe that if a fire starts while they are sleeping, the smoke alarm will wake them up. Unfortunately that assumption can be deadly. Here is why standard alarms fail so many people:
The Wrong Frequency
Standard smoke alarms emit sounds in the 3,150 Hz range. This falls directly in the 2,000–8,000 Hz band where people with high-frequency hearing loss struggle most. For millions of deaf and hard of hearing people, the alarm is simply inaudible — even at full volume.
Distance and Closed Doors
A smoke alarm in the hallway or kitchen may not be loud enough to wake someone sleeping in a bedroom with the door closed. Sound loses significant volume over distance and through walls — by the time it reaches you it may not be enough to wake you.
Deep Sleep and Medication
During deep sleep cycles our brains naturally suppress external sounds. People taking sleeping aids, pain medication, or certain prescription drugs are even harder to wake. An alarm that works fine when you are awake may not penetrate deep sleep at all.
Audio Based Systems Can Fail
Some smart alarm systems use a microphone to “listen” for alarm sounds and then notify you. But if you sleep with your door closed (like fire personnel recommend) or are too far away from you smoke/CO detector your system might miss the alarm. VibeAlert connects directly to the detector so doors and distance don’t matter.
What the Research Shows
The Waking Effectiveness Study
A research paper titled Waking Effectiveness of Alarms for Adults Who Are Hard of Hearing tested whether standard smoke detectors could reliably wake people with hearing loss. The results were alarming — 43 percent of subjects did not wake up to the high-pitched signals generated by standard detectors and this number is rapidly growing now that the baby boomers are getting to ages where hearing loss is more common.
The study concluded that standard smoke alarms operating in the 3,150 Hz range are fundamentally inadequate for a large portion of the population.
Published research on waking effectiveness of smoke alarms for adults with hearing impairment.
Children Are Also at Risk
It is not just people with hearing impairment who are at risk. Research involving more than 500 volunteer families found that more than 80 percent of children aged 2 to 13 did not respond to a traditional alarm when it was sounding. Children naturally sleep more deeply than adults and their brains are less responsive to auditory alerts during sleep.
VibeAlert’s physical vibration signal bypasses the auditory system entirely — making it effective for children, the elderly, deep sleepers, and anyone with hearing loss.
Fire Safety — What You Need to Know
This video covers important fire safety information for families, including those with hearing impairment and elderly members.
Source: eliteceu.com — Fire Safety While You Sleep
Don’t Wait for a Close Call
VibeAlert gives every member of your household the alert they need — regardless of age or hearing ability.