Fire Detection and Alarm  Systems

Fire detection systems fall broadly in to three categories - Conventional, Analogue Addressable and Wireless. In this context do not confuse analogue with yesterday's technology. In fire alarm terms, analogue systems are superior to their conventional counterparts.

Conventional Fire Alarms

In a conventional fire detection system, each part of the building is wired with a radial (or spur) circuit. Each circuit forms an alarm zone. If a trigger is received from a detector or manual call point, the fire alarm control panel signals this condition to other devices such as alarm sounders and remote signalling equipment.

The alarm will be identified as being somewhere in that zone. The exact location has to be found by searching within the zone. Detectors have two states, normal-healthy and alarm.

Addressable Fire Alarms

An addressable fire detection system is usually wired as one or more loops, with each sensor device having its own address and location text to indicate the exact location of the fire.

In an analogue fire detection system, microprocessor based technology interprets the signal recieved and decides whether or not to indicate an alarm, pre-alarm, normal or fault condition.

Wireless Fire Alarms / Radio Fire Alarms