The Fire Alarm Panel: Heart and Soul of your Fire Alarm System
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Defined Tag: Fire Alarm Panel.

The fire alarm panel is the center of any fire alarm system, the heart and soul and mind of the system, as it were. The importance of the fire alarm panel cannot be overestimated in your fire protection system, and, in fact, fire alarm panels are required by building codes throughout most of the country. An examination of the purpose and functions of the fire alarm panel will quickly reveal why this should be.

The fire alarm panel, first and foremost, serves as a sort of brain for the rest of the fire alarm system. It is directly connected to all fire detection units throughout the house or building, such as smoke alarms. The units are often divided up into sections or 'zones' within the building, which allows for greater ease of control on the homeowner's part. The fire alarm panel is the part of the system that alerts the fire department to a fire in your home, if it is set up to do so. (Not all fire alarm control panels are set up to transmit this call to the fire department, although most are.)

It also controls heat alarms and sprinkler systems within the building. As such, the fire alarm panel is vital to any kind of fire alarm system. One accesses the control panel to reset the system after an alarm has been triggered, and to set up periodic fire drills.

Alarm panels are required by building codes in most new buildings, but older homes probably will not have them. Homeowners may choose to have them installed, but most of the time, they opt for cheaper, battery powered smoke alarms. We all know the kind; you make the roast just a bit crispier than normal, and the smoke alarm goes off. Also, these small smoke alarms are generally not connected with the fire department, meaning that if it goes off when no one is home, no one will be available to alert the fire department, and it might just as well not exist. A fire alarm control panel is more expensive, but the expense is justified when you consider the benefits of having it.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.