Smoke Alarms & Detectors

A smoke alarm is self-contained: it detects smoke and sounds its own siren, and can interlink with other alarms. A smoke detector reports to something else, a fire alarm panel or a wireless security hub, which raises the alarm. The Aico Ei650i and Espire ES1SLV are alarms; the Nittan EV-P, Apollo RW1000-760APO and C-TEC CA416 are detectors.

A heat alarm or heat detector rather than a smoke head, because cooking fumes can set off an optical sensor. The range includes the Aico Ei3014 and Espire ES1HRV heat alarms, and fixed-temperature and rate-of-rise heat detectors for panel and wireless systems.

Not on sealed-battery models such as the Aico Ei650i and Ajax FireProtect 2 SB, which run on a sealed 10-year lithium cell, so there is no battery to change or remove during the life of the alarm. Replace the whole alarm when it reaches end of life.

Within the same family, yes. Espire offers an RF module for its 10-year battery alarms and an RF-link relay base for mains alarms, and Aico mains alarms marked Ei3000MRF compatible take a radio module. The Aico Ei3014 lists compatibility with other Aico alarms and the Espire ES1RB with Espire interconnect alarms, so stay within one family.

It combines two sensing methods in one head, usually optical smoke and heat. The Aico Ei660i and C-TEC C4414 are optical and heat multi-sensors, and the Ajax FireProtect Plus adds carbon monoxide. Combining signals helps a head respond to different fire types in one position.

Aico radio-linked alarms can, through the Ei1000G SmartLINK gateway, which provides remote monitoring for RF alarms. Wireless detectors from Ajax, Hikvision AX-Pro, Pyronix and Texecom report through their own security hub instead of a separate gateway, so remote alerts come from that alarm system.

A detector with its own address on a fire alarm panel loop, so the panel reports exactly which head has operated. The Nittan EV-P photoelectric detector, the Apollo RW1000-760APO multicriteria detector and the C-TEC CA416 CAST detector are addressable, and each works only with a panel using its protocol.

EN 14604 for a self-contained smoke alarm and BS 5446-2 for a heat alarm; the Aico Ei146e and Ei650i and Espire ES1SLV list EN 14604, and the Aico Ei144e and Espire ES1HRV list BS 5446-2. Panel detectors list EN 54 parts by model: the Nittan EV-P lists EN 54-7 and the C-TEC C4403A1R lists EN 54-5, so check the standard on each product.