hi
i want to install fire alram system in my new houes, advive me is i install only fire alram or fire Alram with firedefencive tool ..
hi
i want to install fire alram system in my new houes, advive me is i install only fire alram or fire Alram with firedefencive tool ..
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Replies
Generally what you want are "smoke alarms", not "fire alarms" -- they sense smoke, not heat. (By the time a heat sensor goes off it's too late.)
Smoke alarms are available in a wide variety of styles, but there are just a few major variations--
First off, an alarm can be battery powered, line powered, or line powered with battery backup.
Alarms can be interconnected so that if one goes off they all go off. Used to be that you needed to have them on a single common 3-wire cable for this function, but I would guess that by now there are some that use RF signals of some sort and only need to be connected to any AC circuit.
Alarms can be smoke-only or combo smoke/CO2. CO2 detectors are not needed in every detector location, just near "combustion appliances" -- furnaces, gas water heaters, gas ranges, fireplaces, etc, but there should be at least one in any house, even an all-electric one. And it's wise to have one near any entrance from an attached garage.
Smoke alarms can be "ionization", "photoelectric", or both. Generally, "photoelectric" better, but it's pretty hard to find photoelectric alarms any more, and they're apt to be pretty expensive.
And of course, the cheaper detectors, while certified to be as reliable as the expensive ones, are often ugly as sin -- you may have to shop around and pay a little more to get nice looking ones.
You can read on the web where they should be installed, but generally:
Just outside any utility room.
Just outside the kitchen.
Just outside any bedroom.
Don't place too close to fireplaces, etc, as they will be subject to false alarms. Similarly, units in a kitchen, in addition to collecting grease, may give false alarms due to cooking.
Smoke detectors should be installed on or within a few inches of the ceiling. CO2-only detectors can be installed at any height.