FIRE ALARMS

Fire is a major problem in both domestic and commercial properties. In the 12 months to March 2003, there were 64,400 fires in dwellings, 574 deaths, and 13,200 injuries. It is vital that we take the necessary precautions to help reduce these figures but most importantly, to save lives!

Fire Alarm Systems fall broadly in to two groups - Conventional Systems or Analogue Addressable Systems.

Conventional Systems

Conventional Fire Alarm Systems, in their various   forms, have been around for many years and have changed little in that time in terms of technology although design and reliability have improved significantly. However, conventional fire alarm systems are a well-proven technology protecting   many hundreds of thousands of properties worldwide. A conventional fire alarm system is often the natural choice for smaller systems or where budget constraints exist.

Analogue Addressable Systems

Analogue Addressable fire alarm systems differ from conventional systems in a number of ways and certainly add more flexibility, intelligence, speed of identification and scope of control. For this reason Analogue Addressable fire alarm systems are the natural choice for commercial premises and more complex system requirements.

In an analogue addressable system detectors are wired in a loop around the building with each detector having its own unique 'address'. The fire alarm system may contain one or more loops depending upon the size of the system and design requirements. The fire control panel 'communicates' with each detector individually and receives a status report e.g. Healthy, In Alarm or In Fault etc. As each detector has an individual 'address' the fire alarm control panel is able to display/indicate the precise location of   the device in question, which obviously helps speed the location of an incident.

Addressable detectors are, in themselves “intelligent” devices which are capable of reporting far more than just fire or fault conditions, for example most detectors are able to signal if contamination within the device (dust etc) reaches a pre-set level enabling maintenance to take place prior to problems being experienced. Addressable detectors are also able to provide pre-alarm warnings when smoke/heat levels, reach a pre-set level enabling investigation of the fire to take place prior to a full evacuation alarm and Fire Brigade signalling taking place.

Whatever the size and complexity of your requirements, whether networked or a stand alone system,  DWM can offer the latest fire alarm systems from leading manufacturers such as BRK Brand, Detection Systems, Edwards, ESL, Firelite, Firex, Gentex, Detection Systems, System Sensor, and Wheelock. 

We can also supply many of the hard-to-find components for servicing older fire alarm systems.