Fire Alarm Systems: Four Ways Your System Can Alert You To Danger
Posted on: 13 October 2015
When you think of fire alarm systems in homes, you probably think of something loud and piercing. While that certainly is the way of most alarms, there are several other means of alerting people to danger. If you hire a security systems specialist to install a fire alarm system for you, ask about the many following options that they can use instead of a piercing and shrill sound.
Bells
Before technology stepped in and digitized alarm sounds, there were bells. You can still get alarm systems with bell sounds, if you would prefer. Just be sure the bells are loud enough to jolt you awake should there be a fire in the middle of the night.
Strobe Lights
Here in the United States, people are accustomed to the flashing lights of police cars and other emergency vehicles. They see strobe or flashing lights and automatically associate them with danger. If you would like these installed in your home to warn you of a fire, the strobe lights can be red, blue, orange, or white, depending on what type of strobe color your alarm company carries. If you would like extremely bright strobe lights alert you to a fire, your fire alarm installation expert should also be able to install those for you.
Bed Shakers
More commonly used within the deaf community, bed shakers are tied into a fire alarm system to shake the hard of hearing and deaf awake when smoke and fire are detected. They are not a gentle alert system, so you need not fear being lulled to deep sleep by the vibrations. Bed shakers are made up of a pad that you stick in between the mattress and box spring and a component that attaches to at least one of the bed posts. The really high tech ones are activated by Wi-Fi and signals sent from the alarm system and the smoke detector closest to the fire. If your children or spouse are especially difficult to wake in the morning or at night, you may want to install bed shakers as part of your fire alarm system.
Horns
Loud blasts from horns every two seconds are enough to jolt anyone awake. Akin to the horns used in nuclear power plants to alert workers to a possible meltdown, fire alarm horns are effective but may not be as nerve wracking for you as the ongoing, high-pitched digital siren sounds. When the horn sounds, everyone in the house will be alert within seconds, and your neighbors will probably be awakened to your situation as well.
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