A Guide to Fire Detector Testing

Fire detectors are one of the greatest gifts of technology, a pivotal component of home automation. These devices have gone a long way to secure properties and their occupants by preventing fire hazards which are disastrous if not stopped in time.

Anybody who cares about the safety of his or her family or employees has these devices installed in their buildings. If you have a fire warning device in your house or office, then knowing how to operate it is not the end of it. You also need to know a little bit about fire alarm testing these devices because timely inspection is as essential with these gadgets getting them installed.

Why Test Your Fire Alarm System?

Before you get to the how of testing, let’s first understand the why of it. Why does a building’s fire alarm system need regular testing? A big reason why many property owners and managers leave theirs untested for long periods of time is that they do not understand or appreciate the importance of doing so.

Hence, you want to keep testing your alarm systems weekly or monthly because it’s an electronic system and like all electronic systems, these too are not completely infallible. There could be dead batteries or clogged-up detectors inside that you’d know nothing of unless you test them from time to time.

To make sure that your fire alarm system functions as it should to keep your buildings’ inmates safe and sound, you need to test them as often as you can and service them as and when required. This can mitigate the existing problems on time, not to mention prevent possible problems in the future.

How to Test It?

The way to test a fire alarm system is simple. Hire a team of professionals who know how to do it and have tools like a fire alarm heat detector tester to conduct the examination. First of all, let your building occupants know that there is going to be an alarm test on the given date so that no one is unnecessarily alarmed when the wailing starts.

The men hired for the job will set off the alarm by introducing smoke in the detectors or placing a heated element near the fire detector. This will cause the alarm to go off if it’s functioning right. If not, they will need to look at the internal components to see why it failed the test and restore it. Oftentimes, a fire detector tester is used to evaluate the functioning of the system on your own.

How Often Should You Test?

This is a question as important as how to test fire alarms. Besides knowing how and why, you also need to know how often these systems need to be tested with a smoke detector tester. The answer depends on your local jurisdiction. In some places, fire alarm systems in homes and offices need to be tested very frequently, while in others, the frequency is not so much. So ultimately it rests on the local statute. Also, the device in question plays a part in determining that. Check the manual to find the answer.