I have this Safety Siren radon detector. Can I use that for my test?

If you are testing a home for real estate transaction, the answer is absolutely not. You need an independent third party to ensure proper conditions, you need to be able to review the data collected, and you need to know if the monitor was tampered with. This device simply does not have the functionality to do these things, and there is an even bigger issue...read on.

The Safety Siren detector looks like a carbon monoxide detector and plugs into a standard wall outlet. The mechanics of the monitor are similar to the professional monitors that we use, but they have fewer features:

• no tamper monitoring,

• no ability to review data hourly,

• no ability to print data.

Here's the big problem, though. The Safety Siren requires annual calibration (just like the professional equipment) and if you don't calibrate it you've got no guarantee that the data you're getting is accurate at all...

The cost of the Safety Siren is about $120, and the cost for the manufacturer to calibrate it every year is about $60. Without the annual calibration, there is no way to know if your reading is anywhere near correct - especially after a couple of years. If you're good about following up and sending it off to the manufacturer every year, and do not find the cost prohibitive, then the Safety Siren is ok for home use.

Keep in mind that the information you're looking for can be gathered in a much less expensive and time consuming way by using a homeowner test kit (from a reputable lab).