Four Things to Keep in Mind When Installing a Fire Alarm
Updated 6/8/2021
The increasing number of deaths and loss of property that have risen from fire incidents is shocking. Hochiki, one of the leading fire alarm companies globally, utilizes the latest technology in the market. Fire alarms detect fire, carbon monoxide, or smoke and sound a warning alarm. Moreover, fire alarms may be activated automatically by using sensors, heat detectors, and smoke detectors. The form of fire alarms can be sirens, bells, horns, and wall-mounted sounders. Additionally, some fire alarms may have a speaker that directs occupants in a building to evacuate.
While looking for the best smoke alarm detectors to buy, one needs to consider certain factors.
• The power type. Smoke detectors can either be hard-wired or battery-powered.
• The alarm type. Best smoke detectors come in two forms: photoelectric or ionization.
• LED lighting in case an emergency occurs during the night.
• The best smoke and co2 detectors will protect against carbon monoxide poisoning.
The best smoke detectors have an LED strobe lighting that signals the hearing impaired in case of a fire. With the internet, one can get the best smoke detectors on the market. You can then make a wise decision depending on the purpose of the fire alarm detector and your budget. Google Nest Protect is the best overall technique-wise and budget-wise.
When you are about to shop for fire suppression systems, you must look for the best choice. The first thing that should guide you in selecting the system is the risk of fire the building poses to the occupants. Having an automatic fire detection system enables you to prevent and reduce property damage. In addition, a basic smoke detector will help you protect the lives of the occupants of the building. This occurs by allowing you to take the necessary measures after the alert of a possible fire in the premises.
A reliable choice in the effort towards the control of fires in your home or business should be an automatic smoke detector system. The best dual smoke detector systems should be selected based on the suitability of the environment and the fire hazards in the location of placement. It is possible to customize a fire suppression system depending on the choice of company you choose.
For this reason, you ought to choose fire suppression services from a company that has been in the industry for an extended period. With this, you get the best fire suppression systems and services. The staff of such companies has the right skills to apply to the installation and maintenance of the systems.
Your fire alarm installation could be the most important component in your whole building. A fire alarm installation is responsible for initiating the evacuation of the any people in case of a fire, as well as notifying the fire department and any important managers of the building. Buildings that have comprehensive fire protection systems — which includes a combination of an adequate fire alarm installation as well as properly installed fire sprinkler systems — reduces the risk of death in a fire by 50%. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has no record of a fire ever taking more than two lives in a building that has a proper sprinkler and fire alarm installation.
However, your fire alarm installation is only capable of protecting your property and the people within it from fire if it is functioning properly. In order to ensure your fire alarm is ready to protect your property in the worst case scenario, you should review this checklist of fire alarm installation tips:
- Make sure your fire alarms are placed adequately.
Fire alarms are triggered by the presence of smoke, and you probably already know that smoke rises. Placing your smoke alarms on or near the ceiling is important to make sure it catches a whiff of the fire and does its job. As a rule of thumb, your ceiling-mounted smoke alarm should be no more than four inches away from the wall, and your wall-mounted smoke alarm should be no more than 12 inches away from the ceiling. This ensures that your smoke alarm is in the most ideal position to be triggered if it needs to be.
It is important to place at least one fire alarm on each level of your building, and in every room where people sleep. If you have fire alarms in the bathrooms or kitchens, avoid putting them in the path of steam or cooking heat, or you’ll end up with a false alarm every time someone showers or makes something smokey.
- Test your fire alarms.
Although you don’t want your alarm to go off in error, you really don’t want your alarm to not go off when it should! To ensure that your fire alarms are functioning properly:- You should press the “TEST” button on each alarm in your building once a month.
- To ensure your alarm batteries don’t die just before you need them most, set a reminder on your calendar to change them out twice a year, or any time you hear that annoying chirping noise coming from one of them. That’s their sweet little way of saying they need some attention.
- Also, all of your alarms should be replaced on their tenth birthday.
- Make sure you have the right alarm coverage.
To make sure you have the proper coverage of your smoke alarms, you should consider the square footage of your building and divide it by the square footage that the particular alarm you are installing says it covers. You should always use interconnected alarms, so that if one is triggered by a potential fire, all of the alarms in the building go off.
- Choose the best alarm for your circumstances.
Fire alarms work two ways:- Ionization fire alarms work by ionizing the air to create a small electric charge that tells it that their is no fire. If smoke causes the air to thin, the alarm isn’t able to convert the air into an electrical charge, setting off an alarm. One benefit to an ionization fire alarm is that they only need regular household batteries to operate and they work anywhere, in any setting, even if the power goes out. These types of alarms work best with smokey fires, but aren’t as effective with smoldering fires that lack smoke.
- Photoelectric fire alarms have a beam of light within a detection chamber. If smoke enters the detection chamber, it interrupts the light beam and triggers the alarm. This type of alarm is best in smoldering fires, but not as effective in smokey fires.
The most comprehensive alarm systems utilize both types of alarms.
Do you have any other smoke alarm tips? Please share them in the comment section.