Smoke and heat detectors, alarms and fire door. Follow me, I'll take you for a ride among the fire protection devices.
Today we are talking about some systems that allow you to act promptly in the event of a fire and limit the damage. You may already know that there are fire doors, smoke detectors, alarms and other fire protection devices, but you still need to clarify your ideas. You want to understand what you really need and have no doubts once you proceed with the purchase.
Well. Here I am talking about some
fire extinguishing systems useful for limiting the damage caused by smoke and flames. I will not talk to you about measures that require major structural interventions, but about individual elements that can be integrated without major changes.
How to notice a fire? Smoke and heat detectors
First step to limit the damage caused by a fire: be aware of it in time. In this, devices called "detectors" help you. What is it about? Systems that detect the presence of heat and smoke present in an environment. To better understand how they work, I'm talking about a detector that you can find here, in the Windowo e-commerce:
the Opera detector . It is a combined optical and thermal system that
detects heat or smoke, the very first signs of a fire.
The detector communicates with a control panel which, in turn, activates the electronic siren . On Windowo you will find both of these devices, here they are.
Obviously a fire extinguishing system is a little more complex than I explained to you and, to be in compliance with the EN54 law, it needs many more elements to work. This picture shows you how a small complete fire extinguishing system is made, one of those you can find, for example, in a house.
The system you see includes:
- a single-zone fire alarm control panel with battery;
- the display case for activating the alarm;
- the reset button;
- the electronic siren;
- the combined heat and smoke detector (or, optionally, the heat detector ).
For convenience, still here in the Windowo e-commerce, you can also find the
Opera single -zone kit which includes all these devices, ready for installation.
Here I have explained to you how to monitor the environments in order to intervene promptly, now I also want to talk to you about how to contain a fire, so as to prevent it from fueling the damage a hundredfold.
How to contain the flames? REI fire doors
Fire doors are special doors that serve to contain flames and smoke and to limit the extent of a fire, isolating the environment in which it occurs. They are made of materials capable of resisting flames and have specific characteristics - which I will talk about shortly - that allow people to escape quickly.
Why are they called fire doors? Because their purpose is to "cut off" the supply of flames, ie the supply of oxygen. Once the oxygen supply is finished, the fire goes out by itself.
According to the fire regulations in force in Italy, a fire door must:
- Hold back the flames. So prevent the passage of fire from one environment to another.
- Perform a thermal insulation function. So reduce the heat transmission.
- Easily open. So as to allow a quick escape of people who are in the environment of the fire.
- Close automatically (even when in a fully open position) to prevent the spread of fire. Fire doors are in fact equipped with spring hinges or door closers , elements that allow self-closing.
Perhaps, if you have done a little research online, you will have noticed that they are often referred to as REI fire doors.
What does REI mean? Is it a brand? A type of door? None of this. It is an acronym made up of three words (originally French) that indicate its main requirements:
resistance, airtightness, thermal insulation. You may have also noticed that this acronym is often accompanied by numbers. I'll explain immediately what they mean: a REI 120 fire door is a system that keeps its requirements for 120 minutes; a REI 60 fire door, on the other hand, will keep them for 60 minutes.
Did I clarify a bit? I really hope so! Now that you have a little clearer ideas you can choose with more awareness the devices to protect yourself ... and to close the door in the face of fire and flames!
