Smoke detectors

Your fire alarm system will depend on detectors. They are what will monitor for any potential threats and give all occupants plenty of warning.

As part of the system, the detectors hardwire into the main fire alarm panel. But in order to create a reliable system, it is best to fit a mixture of different sensor types. You can choose from optical, ionisation and heat detectors, which work just like your basic battery alarms.

When one of these detectors gets triggered, it will send a signal to the panel, which will then raise the alarm.

Smoke Detectors

With the ionisation smoke detectors, it uses radioactivity to check for the presence of smoke.

And optical smoke detector looks for the smoke using an LED inside the unit. Smoke reflects this light onto a receiver.

Heat Detectors

Using thermistors in the heat detector, it responds when the temperature reaches a pre-set level or to a rapid rise of temperature.

These can go in areas which are dusty, smoke or have a lot of steam. This is because they get unaffected, whereas they would cause false alarms with a smoke detector.

Bases

You need to accompany these detectors with a base. However, which one you choose depends on the functionality you want it to have.

They can come with a sounder to allow the detector to also raise the alarm. A diode can also alert you if the detector gets removed or incorrectly installed.