Fire & Safety
Sounding the alarm
With growing demand for improved smoke and carbon monoxide detection in homes, wholesalers need to be aware of the types of detectors and alarms available, including those for vulnerable people. Jeremy Roberts, Trade Sales Director of Sprue, explains
I
t is very clear that over the coming months and years we will see growing demand for improved protection in
homes against fire and carbon monoxide (CO). As a result, wholesalers will need to ensure they are stocking the right products to meet this demand and that they are also armed with the necessary knowledge to advise customers appropriately. This increased demand is the result of a number of factors. These include recent regulatory changes that require private landlords to include smoke and CO detection in their properties. In parallel, there has been considerable news coverage around the issue of CO, which includes campaigns being run by various TV programmes to encourage people to install CO detectors. One particularly important area is how to meet the needs of those people who may not be alerted by conventional smoke and CO alarms. These include high-risk individuals such as the deaf, those with mild to moderate hearing loss, children and people who are likely to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. For example, research has shown that
young people aged between six and 17 years old will not reliably awaken to a conventional smoke alarm signal. Similarly, drinking alcohol significantly affects a person’s ability to wake up in response to an auditory alarm. To that end, there are a number of ‘assisted
living’ products on the market that have been designed to address these issues. Also, when these products are being used it is important to select the most appropriate types and the ways in which the various devices are connected.
Assisted living devices As noted above, there are a number of ways in which people can be alerted to an alarm, other than the conventional audible alarms for smoke, heat and CO. For instance, the homes of deaf and hard of hearing people can be equipped with a strobe device that responds to an alarm with a rapid flashing light. Or a vibrating pad located under a pillow or on a chair may be used – or, of course, a combination of the two.
Both of these devices should also be equipped with a visual signal, typically a red LED that indicates whether the danger is from
fire or CO. Another option that is suitable
for children, those with mild to moderate hearing loss, older people and people under the influence of alcohol
is to use a low frequency signal. This has been shown to be more successful in waking up these high-risk individuals than a standard audible alarm. A low frequency sounder uses a 520Hz
square wave at a volume of 85dB at 3m and, again, is accompanied by a visible red LED light. When selecting such devices another useful
feature is the ability to use the strobe or the low frequency sound as a low level testing device by incorporating a test/reset button that will activate all alarms in the network. This is particularly useful for people with limited physical ability who are unable to access the test/reset button on a ceiling mounted detector.
Interconnected networks Another issue for wholesalers to consider is how the various devices interact with each other. Historically this would have been achieved through hard-wired networks but
●Continued over
There are a number of ways in which people can be alerted to an alarm, other than the conventional audible alarms for smoke, heat
and CO. For instance, the homes of deaf and hard of hearing people can be equipped with a strobe device that responds to an alarm with a rapid flashing light.
www.ewnews.co.uk August 2015 electrical wholesaler | 31
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