A fire alarm control panel is the core of any fire alarm system – it controls and monitors all the devices in the system.
The fire alarm control panel has many roles to play: it monitors the system for detector activation, it monitors the system for faults, it activates warning devices when needed and it generally provides power to the devices in the fire alarm system. You can also use the control panel to reset or test the entire system. Many control panels also have a time-delay which allows you to check for a false alarm before the full alarm is activated – this can help save considerable time and resources.
When choosing a fire alarm control panel it is important to consider how many zones your property will be divided into, how complex you need the system to be and your budget.
There are many types of fire alarm control panel, the most commonly used control panels are those for addressable fire alarm systems and conventional fire alarm systems.
Addressable Fire Alarm Control Panel
Addressable control panels are also known as intelligent fire alarm panels and are considered the most advanced technologically.
All devices in an addressable fire alarm system will be connected to the panel on a single loop for all zones in the system. Each device in the system will have a unique identifying address.
In an alarm the control panel will be able to identify exactly which device triggered the alarm, whether it be a smoke detector, manual call point or heat detector, and will even be able to display text such as ‘board room’ or ‘kitchen’.
Conventional Fire Alarm Control Panel
In conventional systems, detecting devices like smoke detectors are connected on a single pair of wires forming a loop back to the fire alarm control panel. Warning devices like sounders and flashers are wired on a separate loop.
During an alarm the control panel will identify only which zone the alarm originated from. A single zone could contain up to 32 detectors.
This type of fire alarm control panel is considered the most basic and therefore economical.
Discount Fire Supplies sell a range of fire alarm control panels suitable for many different applications.
