An industrial fire alarm is a complex device intended to warn of and often extinguish a fire in a large building. If you are looking to purchase fire alarm equipment for your industrial setting, there are many key components that must be considered. Crucial aspects include a system's monitoring, its sensitivity, its extinguishing capabilities and whether it is hardwired or intelligently designed. These elements all contribute differently to fire safety in industrial settings.
An industrial fire alarm normally covers a great deal of space because an industrial complex can include factories, warehouses and even large office buildings. Due to the amount of ground needed to be covered, one of your biggest considerations should be how the premises are monitored. If you have a security force on duty all day, you will need to teach the guards to read the computer system and how to properly respond to fire alerts. If you have no security, many types of fire alarm equipment are wired directly to alert the fire department or at least contact an outside monitoring system in order to send immediate help.
An industrial fire alarm can have different levels of sensitivity, depending on your business. Photoelectric sensitivity is commonly referred to as smoke detection because the alarm sounds when a small beam of light within the sensors is broken by smoke. This is an excellent choice for offices and warehouses. Some fire alarm types don't sound off at the presence of smoke, but, rather, when the building temperature rises to a certain degree. This is preferable in situations where smoke is part of the business and could result in a false photoelectric reading, like in a restaurant kitchen.
An alarm's ability to extinguish fires is another consideration you must take. Some types of industrial fire alarm do not emit anything and simply alert the proper authorities. Other systems help fight the fire by spraying water or extinguishing elements when the sensors are triggered. This type of alarm can save equipment and lives during a fire, but is usually much more expensive.
The way the industrial fire alarm is wired is also an important element that can save damages. A hardwired system is a very basic setup that simply begins working whenever a sensor is triggered. These systems do not differentiate where the fire is occurring. An intelligent system, on the other hand, is wired with a series of computerized loops and can alert security and fire fighters to the precise location and severity of a fire.