According to the most recent statistics, public fire departments were called in to extinguish more than 1.6 million fires last year. Tragically, during these fires 4,000 Americans were killed and more than 20,000 were seriously injured. This makes fires one of the most common causes of home injury in the country today.

The most comprehensive and trusted system to detect fires is a fire alarm panel. These systems are normally only installed in schools, apartment and office buildings. They are not used in private residences. The most common types of alarm panels are conventional panels and analogue addressable panels. Both systems are bound by stiff regulations and must be installed, serviced and repaired by certified technicians only.

Every fire alarm panel includes manual pull stations, smoke and heat detectors as well as sprinkler systems, which are all connected to the main control panel. When any of the devices connected to a fire alarm panel is activated, the panel will immediately contact the fire department.

How does a fire alarm panel work?

The panel is designed to receive information about increased smoke or heat levels in a building, which are conveyed to the panel from a series of smoke and heat detectors. The alarm can also be activated manually if someone breaks the glass and pulls the fire lever. At this point, as we mentioned, the panel will immediately contact the fire department and sprinkler systems may also be activated. Since each control panel has its own code, emergency services know the exact location of the distress call.

After the first department checks the building or once the fire has been put out, the fire alarm panel must be manually reset for it to continue normal operations.

In the next few paragraphs we are going to take a look at the two most common types of fire alarm panels.

Conventional Panels

A convention fire alarm panel has only a few circuits connected to the system. Each individual circuit that is connected to the panel controls and protects a certain zone in the building. If there is an emergency, lights on the control panel will let you know which zone of the building has been compromised. However, the system will not indicate what type of alarm was activated or what the specific emergency is.

Analogue Addressable Panels

As you might expect, this kind of fire alarm panel is more complicated and advanced than a conventional one. There are more available programming options and they also allow for single point detection. That means that it is easy to detect which alarm was activated, why it went off and exactly where it is in the building.

The analogue system is also connected to a greater number of fire detection and alarm devices. For example, the ordinary analogue system is connected to smoke and heat detectors, manual pull stations, fire sprinkler devices, fans and heating systems, responders that are sensitive to heat and smoke, as well as relay switches that can automatically turn off all of the electrical equipment in the building in the event of an emergency.

Though both systems have proven effective in the past, the fact is that many public building do not have the funding to provide for an analogue system, which is significantly more expensive.