Are you thinking about trying to connect an addressable smoke detector to the conventional fire alarm system that you have set up in your building? You should think again! The smoke detectors that you use in your building need to match up with your fire alarm system. That means that addressable smoke detectors will not be compatible with a conventional system. Find out more about why they won’t work well together below.
How a conventional smoke detector works
A conventional smoke detector is a switch that uses up next to no electrical current when it’s in standby. But when it detects smoke in the air and goes into alarm mode, it uses up a lot of electrical current at once. This sudden change in current is what lets a conventional fire alarm system panel know that a conventional smoke detector is going off.
How an addressable smoke detector works
Unlike conventional smoke detectors, addressable smoke detectors do not rely on a sudden change in electrical current to let the fire alarm system panel in a building know that they have detected smoke. Instead, addressable smoke detectors are basically tiny computers that send data to a fire alarm system panel to alert it to the presence of smoke.
Why using an addressable smoke detector with a conventional fire alarm system is a bad idea
If you were to connect an addressable smoke detector to a conventional fire alarm system, the panel for the system would have no way of knowing if the detector detected smoke. The panel would be looking out for a change in the electrical current of the smoke detector, but since addressable smoke detectors don’t have an electrical current that changes, the panel wouldn’t pick up on any issues. It could lead to your entire fire alarm system failing to pick up on the presence of a fire until it’s too late.
Make sure you’re using the right kind of smoke detectors in your building’s fire alarm system. Life Safety Consultants can provide you with a wide range of smoke detector options. Call us at 888-557-0558 today to order the right smoke detectors for your building.
