Domestic Installation Help !

[Chorlton]

no debate required.

fire alarm systems are for commercial premises.

smoke detectors are for domestic.

connected to intruder alarm, mains, interconnected by wire, interconnected by radio or just battery what ever you like.

C.

[djrock]

Hello, If you have smoke detectors connected to intruder alarm you will also need sounders inside as well.(that can will wake you up)

In my opinion I would have the smoke alarms separate from the intruder alarm. What happens if for some reason the intruder alarm goes down?? I have two with lights and 10 year batteries fitted.

djrock

[Guest anguscanplay]

Thanks ANGUSCANPLAY.

What do you have agianst the fobs? do they set and unset the system?? Can it set/unset the system from outside the house?

its messy, you need to take wires outside, you can`t see the keypad when setting and I`ll bet you a years service at least once or twice, if not many times a month you`ll leave home thinking your alarms set and it won`t be.

fit the smokes - dont worry about it, they will invariably be better quality than the ones you`d get otherwise

[galaxyclass]

i would fit the smokes to the intruder alarm, i have this myself. i would recommend a decent brand of detector and the bonus is you are much more unlikely to get a false alarm. depending on how many detectors you are fitting, fit a rkp near to your bedside, if a smoke detector activates you will know which one before leaving your room(providing youre using seperate zones for each detector).

i dont really see the issue of the panel going down, as this is highly unlikely if the panel is any good, and this would be noticed when use it generally.

the only time i think i wouldnt use them is if the panel zones are basic open or closed as a cable fault may stop them working and not be noticed if it has a short circuit.

ultimately it is your choice, there is no bad way just be sure its done correctly and works.

and be sure to have the whole system tested annually at least.

[Chorlton]

Remember the panel relies on lecky backed up by 12v batteries.

This is exactly the same as commercial fire alarms in offices, shops, factories, hotels, airports, banks, etc etc etc .

The detectors that connect to intruder panels are mainly made by the same people that make the commercial fire alarm detectors.

Domestic detectors are not "generally" as good a quality as the the above.

This however is a matter of oppionion and very price dependant too.

They can however be interconected by wire or wireless and even have lightswitch test facilities integrated.

Here is a link to a major manf of the "in between" of domestic & commercial fire detaction -

http://www.aico.co.uk/

C.

[arfur mo]

tbh i don't give a stuff on the quality, use

[hpotter]

Hear what your saying arf, but tbo I think most people who hear a

[arfur mo]

Hear what your saying arf, but tbo I think most people who hear a

[hpotter]

Yep, brigade fit them foc (wonder if they'd fit to intruder panel if budget & skills & liabilty for alarm allowed!)

And in your favour part 6 of the fire regs insist on them. (even over intruder panel smokes in my experience -with the building inspector that is).

I just think anything to draw attention is better than none.

We dont fit them to panels as a rule, but I was doing a RM for an elderly customer whos been on with us for over 10 yrs. In all those years I hadnt realised she was deaf (truely), She just happened to mention the intruder alarm had gone off sinse our last visit just the once, and a neighbour with a key let himself in to turn it off as he knew she wouldnt hear it, she woke up and he scared the cr*p out of her.

Astounded, I suggested a strobe in her bedroom.

Week or so later her daughter asked if we could fit smokes to her alarm.

Its all true Arfur. Still cant believe I hadnt noticed she was deaf.

[kensplace]

Got one intruder connected smoke on my old alarm, going to have more on the galaxy when its fitted.

But I will be using a seperate output for a fire condition, with fire sounders that do sound a lot different from the normal internal sounders, plus a couple of small fire strobes (one near main exit, another top landing).

My main concern is if their is a extended power cut during the night, and we oversleep for whatever reason, the battery could run flat and the internal fire sounders/strobes would not operate in case of a fire once the battery ran flat.

The bell would go off, but we could easily sleep through the bell, as its outside on the front of the house, and we sleep in a back room so its not that loud in our room. So that has led to the internal sounders being sabs, so at least they will make a racket when the battery dies.

To reduce the risk further I have went ahead and got a couple of 17ah batteries, one of which I will be using in the alarm panel, the other for my cctv psu for the 12v cams. That should keep the system going for far longer than we can oversleep

Not a fire specialist, just want to make sure that the sounders can be heard in all rooms, even if someone has the tv on loud, or is asleep, or listening to music through earphones (kids etc), and that it is clear its a fire, not a car alarm, or intruder false alarm etc (not that I have had any other than through power cuts due to dodgy charging circuit on old alarm, never had a false alarm whilst in the house yet in many years).

Not using fp200 or anything like that, I figure if the fire has got so bad its burning through the alarm cabling then Im probably a gonner anyway, and to be honest a normal smoke detector would have melted by then anyway!