Fire Monitoring Businesses Can Upgrade Offerings With New Technology

False alarm reduction — that’s the goal for every alarm monitoring company and dealer, especially when it comes to the fire monitoring industry. Fire alarms should be one of the signals that people shouldn’t ignore, yet, most people’s first instinct — especially residents in an apartment complex — is to assume it's a false alarm. Hopefully, new fire monitoring technology can help inch towards that ultimate goal of zero false alarms.

New Heat Detection in Fire Monitoring

Some of the newest technology to help reduce false alarms in fire monitoring include smoke detectors that can differentiate between cooking aerosols and the chemical makeup of a burning fire. False alarms in the household have been increasing between 1980 and the 2010s, according to the NFPA. False alarms caused by cooking is a huge contributor to those numbers. With smoke alarms that can tell the difference between cooking chemicals and fires, we could potentially begin to reduce false alarms and see the arrow go down and to the bottom right corner. While these new systems aren’t necessarily readily available now, the NFPA has been pushing for these smoke detectors to be submitted by the middle of 2020 for UL Listing.

What Else Can Be Done To Reduce Fire Alarms

The NFPA has guidelines on the best places to install fire and smoke detectors to ensure the maximum protection, but also, to help reduce fire alarms. Another big contributor to the false alarm problem is putting fire and smoke detectors where they should not be.

Heat detection devices shouldn’t be close to a bathroom (shower) where steam could set off the device. Areas that are especially dirty and dusty can potentially cause a smoke or fire detector to not function properly. That is why it is especially important to follow the guidelines set forth in Chapter 29 of the NFPA 74 to have fire alarms installed in the most proper and important parts of the household.

New technology combined with the effort to put fire alarms in proper places can help reduce false alarms, which in turn can save money and lives in the long run.