Smoke and Haze Machines Explained
Smoke and Haze Machines Explained
Smoke and haze machines are often used to enhance lighting effects. Most disco lighting involves moving beams or patterns going around a room. In order to achieve visible mid air beams of light they must be going through smoke or haze particles in the air. Without using a smoke haze machine you end up with patterns on floors and walls but without the “beams” of light going through the air. This will only give you half the effect of your disco lighting hire.
Often when people watch demos of lasers abd scanners on Youtube they don’t realize that the effect they are seeing is almost always going through haze or smoke. If you are hiring dancefloor lighting for an event, always check with the venue first and see whether they allow the use of smoke haze machines. This will greatly determine what kind of lights will be effective with or without.
What is the difference between Smoke and Haze machines?
A smoke machine produces a dense fog created by heating up “fog fluid” pumped into a heat exchanger which is thermostatically controlled. This vaporizes the fluid into thick clouds of Fog. Haze machines combine a low output auto cycling fog machine with a small chamber containing a fan. They produce a similar effect with the lighting but are far less obtrusive and dense. You can still see 2ft in front of you!
Will they set off smoke alarms?
A smoke machine is also known as “fogger” and it will definitely set off smoke alarms! A hazer can set off smoke alarms as well but depending on the sensitivity of the alarms, where they are in relation to the machine you might get away with them not going off. Again, check with the venue as most hotels and specialised venues won’t allow it either.