Refurb Projects April 2017

PROJECT
The vape of things to come for Smoke Detectors
Since 1st July 2007, cigarette
smoke has been absent from
public buildings in the UK
but, according to reports,
there is now a new kid on the block
for smokers – vaping. Although
many countries are expected to
introduce legislation regarding the
use of e-cigarettes in 2017, there are
no current guidelines on where they
can and cannot be used. Many
organisations however, such as
public transport, hotels and pubs do
not allow vaping on the premises
due to reported problems such as
fires caused by charging equipment
and smoke detectors being activated
by the exhalation from the vapes or
e-cigarettes themselves.
One such company to experience
these issues is lively pub and music
venue, The Frog & Frigate in
Southampton. Although vaping is
allowed at The Frog & Frigate, venue
owner Derek Gardener says that this
has not been without its problems –
in particular, incidences where
vaping has activated the pub’s
smoke detectors leading to
disruption of the running of the
venue.
Vapes feature a cartridge
containing nicotine in a solution of
either propylene glycol or glycerin
and water. When you suck on the
device as you would a normal
cigarette, a sensor detects the air
flow and starts a process to heat the
liquid inside the cartridge so that it
evaporates to form water vapour.
Unlike e-cigarettes which most often
resemble traditional cigarettes, vapes
come in all shapes and sizes and
thousands of flavor combinations
from blueberry to marshmallow to
single malt scotch! In an enclosed
venue where there are a number of
people vaping, this can have the
same effect as steam on a smoke
detector, leading to false alarms.
SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE
In the case of The Frog & Frigate,
smoke detector false alarms caused
by vaping were becoming a
considerable problem in the running
of the pub.
by Lee Jones,
General Manager
Sales & Marketing,
Nittan Europe Ltd.
Generally speaking, a false alarm
- i.e. an alarm which has been
generated by the fire detection
system but not in response to an
actual fire - is caused by the Infra
Red scattered light technology in
the detector being unable to
distinguish between smoke and
larger size particles like steam and
dust.
Despite the false alarm issues at
The Frog & Frigate, Derek was
reluctant to ban vaping in the pub,
but was recommended a solution by
installers Fire and Safety Testing in
the form of ‘dual optical’ detectors.
Unlike industry standard single
optical sensor smoke detectors, these
dual detectors use both the
‘traditional’ Infra-Red light to ‘view’
the particles entering the alarm
chamber plus blue LED light
technology. By calculating the ratio
of these light sources, which operate
at different wavelengths, the
detector can determine the particle
size and thus distinguish between
smoke and non-combustion
products. As steam and dust are
much larger particles than smoke,
the detector won’t false alarm but
will still remain sensitive to
combustion (fire) products in order
to generate an alarm. This
technology has been employed in
Nittan’s Evolution EV-DP smoke
detectors.
Since the installation of Nittan’s
EV-DP at The Frog & Frigate six
months ago, Derek is happy to
report that there hasn’t been a
single false alarm in the venue
meaning that his customers are kept
happy, entertained and safe.
Fire detector and alarm systems
are absolutely essential but no one
should have to put up with false
alarms. If you have a fire
detection system that is causing
disruption as a result of false
alarms, take action. False alarms,
especially from steam, don’t have
to be a headache!
For sales information, please contact
Nittan on 01483 769 555 or by
email at sales@nittan.co.uk, or visit
the web site www.nittan.co.uk.
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NEWS. DAILY
REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS, APRIL 2017 33