Tuesday, September 29, 2009

What Are Fire Alarms?

By Christopher Williams

Fire alarms help prevent death and property damage. While they can be pricey for a large system, fire alarms are worth every penny. In order to work effectively, fire alarms must be properly maintained. The entire system must also work together to save lives, property, and be economical. Smoke and heat detectors work with sprinkler systems to alert people to fire while extinguishing flames before the fire can spread.

The most important part of any fire alarm system is the smoke detector. Smoke detectors can save your life by alerting you to smoke from fire. You can find many smoke detectors that can also detect the odorless, but deadly carbon monoxide. Most rooms in the home should be equipped with a smoke detector. The number of smoke detectors in your home is determined by its size. Some areas may require several smoke detectors. All smoke detectors rely on batteries for power. Newly built homes will have smoke detectors already hooked to the electrical wiring, but they still contain a backup battery. Change your battery at least once a year, and check each smoke detector to make sure it works.

Heat detectors work with smoke detectors by alerting you to a dramatic change in temperature. Rate-of-rise heat detectors alert you to your home's temperature change over a certain period of time, usually one minute. Any time your home's temperature changes quickly the alarm will sound. Fixed temperature heat detectors will alert you when your home's temperature reaches a specific fixed measurement.

Heat detectors can be used to compliment your fire alarm system, but it should never replace a smoke detector. By the time the heat detector sounds, the fire could have already spread rapidly around your home. Heat detectors are great to pair with smoke detectors because you can use them in places where smoke detectors are not allowed. The kitchen, for example, is one place that smoke detectors cannot be placed; so using a heat detector can alert you to a kitchen fire before a smoke detector in another room. Fixed temperature heat detectors are perfect for the kitchen since the rate-of-rise detector may sound when cooking due to a rapid rise in temperature.

Sprinklers systems can save lives by putting out a fire before it has the chance to destroy the entire house. Once a specific temperature is reached, the sprinklers will release water over the fire. Each sprinkler head must be activated in order to release water. If a fire breaks out in one area of the house, only the sprinkler heads in that area will release water. This gives the sprinkler heads more pressure and water to put out the fire.

While a sprinkler system can cause water damage, it can save your home from complete destruction. Waiting for firefighters to extinguish the flames can cause a bigger fire, and more water is needed to put it out. It is much cheaper to repair a small area of water damage than it is to replace your entire home.

Fire alarms can save lives and property. While a smoke detector is necessary for any home or business, combining it with heat detectors and sprinkler systems can increase the survival of people and property.

About the Author:

No comments: