Hardwired Smoke Detectors

Support
1

I am remodeling my home and will be required to use hardwired smoke detectors. Is there a supported hardwired model of smoke detector that I can use with an IQ4 panel? The IQ Smoke and PowerG do not appear to be hardwired.

Thanks
Gary

2

You cannot wire a hardwired smoke detector to the panel. However, you can use an audio detector.

If you are using the IQP4001 IQ Panel 4 with 319.5MHz and PowerG radios, the FireFighter Wired Smoke Alarm Audio Detector SLX-AD-T3 would work.

The FireFighter monitors the alarm activity of existing UL smoke detectors by listening for the audible siren given off. When an alarm is detected, the FireFighter sends a wireless signal to the panel which in turn notifies the central monitoring station (if in use). Typically only one is needed to monitoring all of the interconnected smoke detectors.

3

So no one makes a smoke detector that meets the hardwired power and interconnection requirements AND will communicate with an alarm.com panel? Seems like the detector companies have a gap here or the regulatory standards need to catch up with today’s technology. I’m not sure if I like my alerting system dependent on a microphone picking up the audible siren. How reliable is this?

4

No, there are no AC powered smoke detectors with built-in RF communicators for use with the panel.

Regarding reliability as a concern, consider an ionization smoke detector uses a radioactive element, decaying over time, to induce current between electrically charged plates and activates from disruption in that current.

Comparatively the Firefighter listens for a sound. It is a very simple device, and works well with interconnected AC smoke detector circuits.

I’ve never actually seen one fail to detect its nearby sounder.

5

Thanks for the info and sharing your experience with the Firefighter. I now can revise my order appropriately.

Thanks
Gary