According to Fire and Rescue NSW, 97% of automatic fire alarm callouts are triggered by unwanted alarms. The Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services puts the figure at more than 98%.

Regular unwanted alarms cause complacency. People have ignored fire alarms during real emergencies. In any case, unwanted alarms waste time and money for everyone involved.

We can slash unwanted smoke alarms by configuring detectors in pairs. Program the fire panel to trigger an alarm signal only if both paired detectors go into alarm. This is often called “double-knock”. It’s not unusual for one smoke detector to be set off by an event such as dust contamination or a wayward insect. It’s very unlikely that two detectors will go off accidentally at exactly the same time.

In Pertronic F220 systems, it’s easy to configure the system to raise a local alarm if one of the paired detectors reports smoke. The red alarm screen and local buzzer will alert facility management staff.

If both detectors report smoke, the system triggers a general fire alarm and calls the brigade.

Next time a customer tells you they’re getting too many false alarms, consider paired detectors as a potential solution.