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Beep Beep Blog
One of our biggest complaints from our
residential clients is the alarm panel beeping. I
would guess that we get around 200 calls a year because of
this problem.
With a problem
this big, one would think that we need to take some action
to fix this problem, right? Well, ok, here we go!
Nearly 99% of the calls we get for "alarm
panel beeping" complaints are from noises not related to the
alarm system. Some of the offending beeping
noisemakers are:
-
Local Smoke
Alarms - the number one offender
-
Carbon
Monoxide Detectors
-
Pagers
-
Microware
Ovens
-
Washer/Dryers
-
Cell Phone
(low battery warning)
-
Children's
toys
-
Kitchen
timers
-
Computers
-
Telephone
systems
-
Battery
powered sump pump controls
-
Hearing aids
These are things
that we have found when our clients insist we come
out to investigate a beeping noise.
Looking at the
list, Smoke Alarms is listed as being the
number one offender. And when our clients call for
service, they usually point out that we installed Smoke
Detectors in the house. Well yes, sometimes we
do. But Smoke Detectors and Smoke Alarms
are two different things. We almost never install
Smoke Alarms.
What
is the difference between smoke alarms and smoke detectors?
- Smoke alarms
are defined as self-contained, single or
multiple-station smoke-sensing devices with sounders. Smoke alarms may
include two or more single station units wired to
operate in conjunction with each other. (when one
goes off, they all sound)
- Smoke detectors
are defined as smoke-sensing devices that are not
self-contained (no sounder), that are intended for use in conjunction
with an alarm system control panel.
Now - lets put
all of this into some kind of sense. Smoke Alarms
are required by building codes, sometimes even if there will
be smoke detectors installed. They are usually
installed by the electrical contractor who installed the
electrical wiring your home.
Smoke Detectors are what are used in alarm systems,
and are required to be able to monitor, detect and report smoke conditions to the
monitoring center. Your home may have either Smoke
Alarms or Smoke Detectors or, as is often the case, both.
Because a smoke
detector does not have a sounder in it, it is not possible
for it to make a beeping sound. Remember, the smoke
detector is connected to the alarm panel, and the alarm
panel has the sounder connected to it - there is no
sounder in the smoke detector to go beep.
One way to
determine if the problem is coming from your security system
is looking at the keypad. If the keypad isn't
indicating some sort of problem or malfunction, then the
problem is elsewhere.
There are always
exceptions to the rule, and in this case it would be
wireless smoke detectors, which do have sounders, and are
connected to the alarm control. Again, the best advice
I can give is to look at the keypad. If there is a low
battery condition with the wireless smoke detector, there
will be an indication at the keypad.
But why are smoke
alarms problematic? Well, they're cheap devices.
They cost a fraction of what a professional smoke detector
would cost, some retailing for $5.00 apiece. This is
one of those times where the phrase "You get what you pay
for" really comes to mind. Because a smoke detector is
used to signal a fire panel, which in turn can be monitored
for fire department dispatch, it had better be designed with
false alarm reduction features in mind to keep fire
department dispatches to a minimum.
And of course, the
alarm panel can go Beep too. Those beeps will come from
the keypad to indicate a service problem or other condition
that requires attention. See your
owners manual for more
details, or give us a call if you need assistance. |
