Mains
powered smoke alarms 
Aico Ltd - Aico wireless smoke alarm interconnection provides innovative solution in Glasgow residential property
Aico's RadioLINK wireless interconnect
mains powered smoke alarm technology proved to be the ideal
solution when a large residential property in Glasgow needed to
have its fire detection coverage significantly increased.
The property in question was a four storey Victorian building.
The architect on the project had originally specified a fire
detection system using conventional Ei160 mains powered smoke
and heat alarms from Aico. The system was configured so that
there was a heat alarm in the kitchen and mains powered optical
alarms on each landing of the four storey dwelling. The system
was then duly installed by AFS Property Services of Glasgow.
Fraser Sergeant, Managing Director of AFS, recalls: "The system
as instructed to us worked fine - but when Glasgow's Building
Control inspected the property, they concluded that the system
gave insufficient coverage for both the style and layout of the
building. Some rooms boasted ceilings 15 feet high, for example,
and Building Control's solution was to insist on a smoke alarm
in every room. Furthermore, all alarms had to be interconnected
into a single system."
This presented a very real problem. The property had already
been extensively refurbished, with rooms decorated and painted
and luxury hardwood floors laid down in virtually every room.
Installing all the extra alarms would have not presented a
problem, but connecting them with hard wired interconnection
would have caused untold damage to the new luxury décor, with
floors being torn up, huge amounts of trunking installed
everywhere and so forth.
Luckily, Mr Sergeant had recently read about a solution while
visiting his local electrical wholesalers, Rexel Senate of
Glasgow. "I was in the wholesalers when I came across a leaflet
about Aico's new wireless mains powered RF interconnect system
called RadioLINK," he recalls. "I realised that might prove to
be a way of building this large new smoke alarm system without
having to destroy the décor."
AFS set about installing the Aico RadioLINK wireless
interconnect system using Ei160 series alarms with 10 year plus
Lithium cell back-up technology. Twelve new wireless alarms were
added to bedrooms and living areas. "We were even able to make
use of the existing seven alarm system we'd originally
installed," reports Mr Sergeant. "We just simply swapped their
bases from conventional hard-wired interconnect unit to RF
wireless bases. We then coded all the alarms - new and old -
into one cohesive overall system."
The whole job, comprising installing twelve new alarms,
converting eight existing alarms and coding them into a single
wireless system took AFS just three hours.
Building Control were invited to re-inspect the new Aico
RadioLINK system, had a floor-by-floor demonstration and duly
passed the system as meeting their standards.
"Aico's RadioLINK system solved our problem and satisfied the
inspectors, who are very rigorous and demanding in Glasgow these
days,' says Mr Sergeant. "What's more, the whole exercise of
installing a wireless system cost our clients around £1100. If
we'd had to hardwire the whole thing - which we would have had
to have done without RadioLINK - the bill to our client would
have been closer to £20,000 given the amount of renovation work
required. The system has since been in situ
with no problems reported and we would certainly use Aico
RadioLINK in future where the application called for it."
Email:
nila@publicityoverload.co.uk