Wireless Smoke alarms

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cd

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Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with wireless smoke alarms ?
I've been wanting to put smoke alarm in the workshop (bottom of the garden) and have it sound in the house. The distance between the two is about 50ft and I dont really want to dig up the lawn for cables.
I'd also like to know whether dust will cause the me "false" alarms ?
TIA

cd
 
You can get different types of alarms, some of which work on a "temperature rise" principle, rather than the standard optics (and which may be more susceptable to dust over the longer term. The termperature rise is triggered if you have a rise of (say) 10 degrees C in 5 minutes. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, or the rate rise, but you get the idea I'm sure.

They are normally the types recommended for kitchens/showers, where steam/frying fatty foods etc can trigger annoyingly frequent false alarms.

Adam
 
cd
Dusty atmospheres and smoke detectors really don't go together. A rate of rise heat detector might be OK but it will still be subject to dust affecting it.
If you want to try a wireless system it will not be cheap and, as far as I know, will involve a control panel as well as the detector heads. It would seem logical to put the system in the house and include the workshop as a satellite to it, if you are going to spend that kind of money.
It might make sense to just use domestic smoke detectors that can be interlinked and just put up with the 50 feet of flex needed to join them (not sure how the resistance over that distance will affect the result, though). Try it and see. If you get the result you want you can consider tidying things up with better kit.
The real solution for a dusty atmosphere is to use infra red detection that actually looks for flame rather than smoke but, again, there will be a cost.
If you are not sure what I am going on about just say so! I did ramble a bit there!

SF
 
cd
I agree with shadowfax,years ago working in the joiners shop at the gasboard R&D in the north-east we used to have to contact security and have them switch of the smoke alarms when we were going to cut any amount of timber especially hardwoods.

Drew
 
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