Addressable and Conventional Alarms Systems

An addressable fire alarm system is made up of a series of fire detectors and devices that are connected back to a central control panel. With addressable systems, each device has an address or location, enabling the exact detector that was triggered to be quickly identified A conventional system is a fire alarm that identifies the activated detector or manual call point by a zone LED,

Differences between Addressable and Conventional Alarms 

Every device connected to the addressable system has its own unique address. When a fire is detected, the device’s address shows up on the main control panel, telling you exactly which device has been activated. This will enable you to find the exact location of a fire and extinguish them quickly.

With a conventional system, there is no way of pinpointing the exact location of the fire. However, by wiring your building into different zones, you can get a general idea of where the fire is. For instance, if you have two floors, you could wire the first as ‘zone 1’ and the second as zone 2. So if a fire occurs in zone 1, you know that the fire is somewhere on the first floor.

Wiring

Addressable alarm systems connect devices using a loop. This is where one wire connects all devices to the control panel. Both ends of the wire loop connect to the control panel.

With a conventional alarm, each device will be connected to the control panel via its own wire, rather than a shared one. One end of the wire will be touching the device, and another touching the control panel.

Advantages of addressable fire alarms

• Quickly determine the location of a fire.

• Specific actions can be programmed by the user.

• Reduced likelihood and better handling of false alarms.

• More reliability, less likely to lose connection.

• Lower overall cost of wiring.

• Ability to monitor integrity of the system, with detector health checks.

Functionally, the addressable fire alarm unit is superior, which can help prevent costly activities and save time when detecting a fire. It’s also cheaper and easier to install. But in terms of buying price, a conventional system is cheaper, and will meet the functional needs of small premises where a sophisticated system is not necessary.