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Fire protection
Whether you are upgrading the fire protection in your building or installing a fire alarm for the first time, it is important to understand the types of fire alarm system available. Understanding how a fire alarm system works means knowing what its requirements are and what they mean for your building.
The basics of these systems come from specific codes and legal regulations that set out which system should be installed where. There are a number of fire alarm systems you should get to know before choosing one for your own business or company.
Two entirely different kinds of fire alarm system can be used in commercial premises. The first is the automatic fire alarm system, which can send an alert to a fire alarm monitoring service the moment it detects heat or smoke. It shows a light immediately and sounds an alarm throughout the building.
The other is called the manual fire alarm system. This kind of system has pull devices fitted around your building, and the alarm starts when someone pulls one after seeing or sensing a fire.
Conventional Fire System
There are other fire alarm systems, such as the conventional system, which can be either manual or automatic. This system divides the building into zones and lets you put a separate fire alarm, manual or automatic, in each one. The zones are then wired back to your central control panel, which helps you check whether any alarm has failed.
Addressable Fire Alarms
Another kind is the addressable fire alarm, also known as an “intelligent system”. It can monitor the fire alarms in your building and show you which ones are working and which have failed. Addressable fire alarms let you choose between automatic and manual alerting, but they can cost more than the alternatives because of that monitoring capability.
Hybrid Fire Alarms
A hybrid alarm combines the wired zones of a conventional fire alarm with the loops of an addressable fire alarm in a single panel. Sometimes hybrid alarm technology suits a site better than either an addressable or a conventional alarm.
Expanded Options
There are many other options you can choose when fitting a new fire alarm system to your building. There are sprinkler systems, which automatically release water or a chemical fire retardant when they detect fire in the building, and there are containment systems, which can lock down the area around the seat of the fire to stop it spreading.
Another option is ventilation, which helps clear smoke and fumes from the fire area to assist evacuation.
Automatic suppression systems
Getting a fire alarm system is something you need in order to protect the business you have built. The better your system, the better protected your business is. That is why you should choose your fire alarm carefully, based on the size of the building, its location and the type of business. And if you would like, you can talk to us for advice on protecting yourself better against a fire that destroys everything.
