06/12/2015 • Fire prevention

Consulting on audible fire alerting

Consulting on audible fire alerting

The electrical technology specialist Pfannenberg offers consulting services which means fire alarm systems can be planned dependably in compliance with the newest DIN standards.

Planning of compliant audible fire alarm systems is often wide-ranging and complicated. Planners and architects require detailed product information and continually have to take changes in the legal requirements into consideration. Often, the information required has to be collected from data sheets which is time consuming. Missing values and/or data or old classifications make optimal planning more difficult.

So that planners and architects can concentrate on their core competences nonetheless, Pfannenberg is there to help them with an extensive range of consulting services. Pfannenberg experts support their customers’ projects from the beginning with up to date information e.g. on the DIN EN-54-3 specifications, sound level values and the real emission characteristics of the sounders. Therefore, the consulting services provide planners and architects with maximum planning dependability and guarantee optimally designed audible fire alarm systems which conform to standards.

On the product side, Pfannenberg supports planners and architects with a wide portfolio of audible signaling devices. The solutions impress technically because of their high level of efficiency and they are certified according to current norms and standards, ensuring that the approval process runs smoothly.

Total costs are minimized due to optimal technology. Sounders can generate the required audible signal either electromagnetically or with piezo technology. The piezo electric sounders have a low power consumption – but in direct comparison they are inferior to electromagnetic sounders in several applications. If you put the power consumption and the signaling range in relation to each other, the electromagnetic sound generation impresses due to its significantly higher level of efficiency. Therefore Pfannenberg uses the electromagnetic principle for its audible sounders.

Certified products for maximum planning dependability. For simple and dependable planning and project management, all of Pfannenberg’s audible sounders for fire alarm systems are certified according to the current norms. Thus, PATROL signaling devices fulfil the European certifications according to EN 54-3 and VdS. This makes exact and reliable planning easier and guarantees a smooth approval process of the fire alarm system.

Typical Challenges when planning audible fire alerting
DIN-standards require extensive specialist knowledge. Fire alarm systems have to fulfil the specifications of the DIN 54 series, the DIN VDE 0833-2 and the DIN 14675 amongst others. The DIN 54-3 standard for example, specifies that the sound level for every tone of a certified audible sounder has to be considered separately. This is due to the fact that the emission characteristics of the tones vary depending on the frequency and other factors.  Besides, the horizontal radiation characteristics of the sounder is decisive when calculating the signaling range.

Risky Simplifications. In order to reduce the complexity during the planning, the signaling device is often considered a “spherical emitter” in practice. An inaccuracy which in many cases can lead to the whole fire alarm system not being approved - thus causing additional costs due to the retrofitting. An example: The sound level of a standard audible sounder usually falls by more than six decibels in an angle of 0 to 180 degrees. This halves the signaling distance so that double the amount of sounders is required for compliant alarming.

Obsolete classifications as risk factor. Some sounders are officially classified to be 103 decibels, however they only show 91 decibels by an angle measurement according to DIN 54-3. “Dependable and cost efficient planning of audible sounders has to take the actual emission characteristics of a sounder into account,” explains Mark Egbers, Industry Group Manager Infrastructure at Pfannenberg: “With our comprehensive and exact consulting services we offer the persons responsible the highest degree of dependability in the planning process.”

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Pfannenberg GmbH

Werner-Witt-Straße 1
21035 Hamburg

Phone: +49 40 734 12-0
Fax: +49 40 734 12-101