home fire alarm system

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cceinak

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help! I need to install a home fire alarm system in a large home. Does anybody have any experience in this? Do i want to install a commercial system that I am more familiar with. Simplex, pyrotronics? Anybody have any advice? Do they make a cheaper system that will be around in 10 years?
Thanks
 
Re: home fire alarm system

If your not installing a alarm panel system the electrical contractor should have installed a line voltage system that we all install which is a simple system a 14/3 N/M is ran between all the smoke outlets and it is usauly placed on one of the bedroom circuits to protect it by the AFCI the three wires are 1-hot 1- neutral 1-interconnect +1 ground firex makes a good unit with batery backup
 
Re: home fire alarm system

Firex also has rate-of-rise detectors that will integrate with the setup that Wayne (hurk27) mentions above. They can be installed in attics, garages, etc. where smoke detectors may not be appropriate. Firex has at least two flavors of the smoke detectors too: Ionization vs. Photoelectric. Each types has an advantage and can be tailored to the likely kind of fire source (mostly fast spread vs. slow spread).

Finally, I believe the interconnect (Firex anyway) can be taken back to an alarm panel if you want to tie this 120 volt setup into your local alarm system panel.

You can get a six-pack of the alarms Wayne mentioned for about $70 wholesale. Pick & choose between the ionization, the photoelectric, and the rate-of-rise (heat detectors) and you can tailor a pretty good home fire detection system for a reasonable price. Be sure to keep the interconnects (and detectors) on one circuit.

I am sure others here can add on to my answer and fill in any gaps that I left.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

cceinak,

What hurk and awwt have mentioned is the least expensive and most accepted way to install a residential smoke detection system. Simplex and Pyrotronics manufacture systems and devices primarily for commercial use. So, unless you're Arnold Swartzaneggar and drive an H-1 Hummer don't go that route.

If you want to take a step up and install a system where the detection devices are supervised by your combination security and fire alarm control panel there are many control panels and devices on the market that will do that. Ademco and DSC come to mind immediately. They may not manufacture the smoke detectors but there are compatible units that will work on those system controls.

I'm not sure what the local code requirements are in your area but here in NJ they are requiring both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in common hallways outside bedrooms. I know that Firex makes a combination unit should you decide to go with the line voltage, interconnected type system but I'm not sure you can get a combination unit in the low voltage system version.

Hope this helps.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

thanks guys for the info. Well, the guy could drive a hummer and he wants to cadillac the system. He wants it addressable, so I was thinking my best choice was just to call up simplex and get a small system. With that i would hope I could get some sensors that would be functional for home use. Maybe a low temp sensor that would send a trouble back to the panel. Water sensor for the laundry area. Here in Alaska every year you hear about the pore fellow that goes somewhere over Christmas, locks up the house, the boiler goes out while they are gone and the pipes burst. At -40 it only takes a couple of days for that to happen. I am sure you could put just about anything you would want in line by using a TRI module. I just have not done it in a residential application. Anybody have any other good thoughts to trick out a house? He has the cash and wants all the bells.
Thanks! OH, here in alaska, its just a smoke detector in bedrooms and hallways going into them. Also, they have to be intertied, 12/3 just as described above.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

X10.com declared bankruptcy a few days ago when they were sued over their "pop under" ads. Evidently somebody claimed X10 stole this fabulous pop-under "technology". Pop-under ads are like pop-up ads but you don't see them until you close your top browser window. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. I doubt if it will have an impact on X-10 in general, just the .com arm. Somebody had a patent or copyright on pop-unders. They are still up & running & the bankruptcy may have no impact in the long run.

../Wayne C.

[ October 27, 2003, 12:03 AM: Message edited by: awwt ]
 
Re: home fire alarm system

Another point you may need to concern yourself with is whether the AHJ will accept any other than 120v interconnected smokes.

Where we are we have to install smokes to code regardless of whether there will be a LV system. The inspector only cares about our work. If there is a LV system it must coexist with the 120v system meaning double smokes. :( Probably something to be said for that because LV smokes don't have sounders in each like the 120v ones do. I suppose the solution is to use 120v smokes that will also connect with a fire panel.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

check out fci (fci.com) nice simple addressable system.. i would stay away from symplex. also esl or firelite.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

Where we are we have to install smokes to code regardless of whether there will be a LV system. The inspector only cares about our work. If there is a LV system it must coexist with the 120v system meaning double smokes. Probably something to be said for that because LV smokes don't have sounders in each like the 120v ones do. I suppose the solution is to use 120v smokes that will also connect with a fire panel.
Click to expand...
Having two smoke detectors installed in the same area seems a bit ridiculous. If you were the homeowner with a new residence would you want 2 smoke detectors installed in each bedroom and hallway just because an inspector wanted it there ? At the very least I would have the homeowner apply for a variation in the code to avoid that.

It's been my experience that an inspector will allow a smoke detection "system" as long as there were internal sirens. I usually have the alarm installation company file for the fire protection permit. Personally, I'd rather have it done that way. That way, the onus isn't on me to insure the reliability of these devices.

Just my opinion.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

I did exactly what you are talking about in my house. I installed a fire sprinkler system and wanted to a commercial fire alarm as well. The main reason I installed the fire sprinkler was because I am in a rural area and 4 miles from a volunteer fire department. Part of my home is turn of the century and even with fire blocking would burn quickly. I could have tied the flow switch into a 120v interconnected smoke detector system, I thought that it would be easiest to use a commercial system. One of the bells that I added was a horn/strobe on the eve that faces the road. If there was an alarm, it would help the fire department find my home. I think the cost of the equipment was about $1,000.00, but I made a supplier give it to me since it was for my personal home.

Jim
 
Re: home fire alarm system

For the guys who are being made to install line voltage as well as the 'system' smokes there is an alternative.
The manufacturers of the low voltage firealarm systems are now making their systems with smoke heads that individually sound as required by the code. Now you prove this with the paperwork provided by the manufacturer, and you are good to go without installing line voltage smokes as well.

Pierre
 
Re: home fire alarm system

Originally posted by aceofdiamond:
what is IRC? :confused:
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The IRC is the International Residential Code...the governing book for single and two family dwellings in most states. Smoke detector requirments are not an NEC issue, but rather a building code (IBC/IRC) issue.
 
Re: home fire alarm system

Originally posted by aceofdiamond:
Ok. I just read R317; nothing about backup battery. So???. what do you know? is it needed?
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R317.2 (2000 Edition) Power source

"....and when primary power is interupted, shall recieve power from a battery."
 
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