A listed building in Haverfordwest has been fitted with Cygnus’ world first EN 54 certified fully wireless SmartNet fire detection and alarm system, following a fire risk assessment and the removal of a first-floor fire escape.
The removal of a fire escape left just one fire exit serving five floors of the building, so the fire risk assessment stipulated the installation of a fire detection and alarm system to category L1. This provides detectors in all areas of the building where a fire could start, linked to a centralised alarm system, providing early warning of fire.
Cardiff-based Ceaton Security installed the ‘Made in Britain’ registered SmartNet mesh wireless system from Cygnus comprising six call points, 14 smoke detectors, seven integrated smoke detectors/sounders, one heat detector and one visual alarm device (VAD) – all connected to a 16-zone Cygnus panel.
The installation company was initially asked to survey and quote for a hard-wired system. But the survey identified the difficulties in installing such a system in a historic and listed building, and one which had to be operational during business hours. The company suggested an alternative approach of a Cygnus wireless system which – while providing an accurate and reliable detection and alarm system – could be installed in a fraction of the two-to-three-week timescale for a hard-wired system.
“Having access to the Cygnus radio fire alarm system, we were able to provide a cost-effective solution to meet the client's requirements,” said Paul Biggs, Fire Division Technical Support at Ceaton Security. “The quotation allowed two days for two engineers to install the radio fire alarm system. Being a working site, we decided to pre-commission the alarm system at the office – the fire panel was programmed with individual zones and all devices were pre-labelled.
“This allowed us to attend the site and fully install an L1 system of 35 devices and mesh devices, remove old equipment, clean up, mount a zone diagram, and demonstrate the system to the client – all within seven hours.”
Cygnus’ SmartNet system uses patented Cygnus technology self-healing mesh signalling, which helps eliminate radio blackspots by enabling devices to communicate with neighbouring devices and thereby signal hop to the panel. This signal path redundancy increases reliability and system resilience, and comes into its own when a device can’t directly “see” the panel, or when subsequent building alterations are made.
“Installing a wireless system made a massive difference, causing minimal disruption and reduced labour costs,” says Paul. “We have now completed the installation of three Cygnus wireless systems and have had no call backs or problems with any of them. The stability of the equipment and ease of installation, following training from the manufacturer, means that we are confident in offering this solution to current and prospective customers.”
For further information
Further details on Ceaton Security are available here.