Smoke Alarms

Mittens Electrical- Smoke Alarm Experts

Whether it’s for your business or at your home, a well-designed fire security system is essential for any property. In the last quarter of 2013, damage worth over £270 million was caused by fire. The danger with fire damage is that it isn’t restricted to your property alone, the risk of smoke inhalation, or worse, is always there.

Smoke Alarms Statistics In The UK

Despite the risks, a little over 12% of properties in England do not have a functional smoke alarm. Furthermore, over 33% of fire incidents in Britain occurred in homes without fire alarms of any kind. Smoke alarms (or detectors) work on the principle that smoke is an important element of fire. Hence, an early detection can prevent it from getting worse.

years of experience in providing electrical solutions and installing smoke alarms in buildings. Throughout the years, we have maintained a policy for service excellence and customer satisfaction. We are also BS5839 pt1:2013-compliant, as accredited by the UK ruling authorities on fire control. Therefore, our engineers are highly qualified to advise you. If you need expert consultation on fire security, contact our customer support team.

Types Of Smoke Alarms You Need To Know

There are four main types of smoke alarms currently in the market.

• Ionisation
• Optical (photo-electronic)
• Heat
• Combined

The one you select will depend on your building type, business activity or personal preference.

Optical

Optical smoke alarms may be a bit more expensive, but highly effective at detecting greater particles of smoke from slow burning fires. For example, the smouldering upholstery with foam inside, and overheated PVC wiring. This means that they’ll be effective in plastic manufacturing plants. They are also somewhat less sensitive to rapidly flaming fires. Optical smoke alarms can be installed near (not in) kitchens, because they are not as prone to going off, as ionisation, when burning toast.

Heat Alarms

Heat alarms are straightforward. They detect increases in temperature from a fire. Unfortunately, they are not as sensitive to smoke. But this makes them valuable in the kitchen and other fire-use areas. They also cover a small area, so you’ll need to install multiple heat alarms in a large room.

Combined Optical Smoke And Heat Alarms

This combination of two types in one unit, increases the speed of fire detection while reducing false alarms. They can be installed in restaurants or manufacturing plants.

Combined Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Alarms

This type of alarm combines both smoke and carbon monoxide detection in one ceiling-mounted unit. They are more cost effective and take up less space in the living room.

An Anatomy Of A Smoke Alarm

Each type looks similar and may be powered by a battery, main electricity or a combination of both, where the main is the key power and the battery is a back-up. At Mittens Electrical, we can interlink your smoke alarms, so if there’s a fire in one room, it can set off the alarms in other rooms. We can do this with the least cost, using radio to interlink the smoke alarms.

Most smoke alarms have a hush feature to stop them in event of a false alarm. The alarm notifies you when it’s being silenced by chirping or showing a red light- but an actual fire with lots of smoke will trigger it anyway.

Another useful technology is the ‘Sleep-Easy Function’- users can hush the alarm late at night if the low battery beep begins to go off. A typical smoke alarm will need to have its battery changed every 11 to 12 months. If you wish, our fire engineers can install alarms with 10-year inbuilt batteries, so that you don’t have to replace them every year.

Installing Smoke Alarms In Your Building

There’s a general rule for installing smoke alarms in your home:

• Heat alarm: Kitchen and garage
• Ionisation smoke alarms, combined (optical and heat): Landings
• Optical smoke alarms, combined smoke alarms, and heat alarms: Bedrooms, hallway and sitting room

For commercial and industrial buildings, it’s a lot more complicated and will require an expert survey. When you call Mittens Electrical engineers, we first send a professional who’ll conduct an inspection of your premises and send a detailed recommendation of the type of smoke alarms you will need.

We offer obligation free consultancy for installation of smoke alarms.

Highly experienced engineers

We hire the most skilled engineers with decades of experience. You are assured of quality services on any project we undertake.

Accredited engineers

Our electricians not only know their onions, but are well-respected in the industry. We have the backing of leading fire control authorities.

Comprehensively insured

Many people have incurred huge costs from on-site damage. We promise you, ‘safety first’ policy is the guiding principle of our installers. However, for added protection, we have a full insurance coverage on our customer’s projects.

Value for money

Our services come with high-quality assurance and affordable costs. Every customer is guaranteed value for their service.