I have a crawl space that once a year or so dips below freezing with heaters on the pipes. I want to be able to detect if the heaters were to cause a fire. I understand that a smoke alarm is not suitable as the operating temperatures on those only go down to about 40F.
Can I use the IQ Temp and have it alarm on high temperatures only? It is expected for this area to be below the 40F cold alarm and don’t want it to alarm under that condition.
No, the IQ Temp sensor is an environmental sensor used for monitoring ambient temps, it is not for use in detecting a fire, and it cannot be altered to detect only heat or change its threshold.
For such a use case I am not aware of any purpose built compatible options.
Dedicated wireless Heat only fire detectors like the discontinued HDX-135 still have an operating temp range that bottoms at 32.
With something like that heat detector you could try it and see if the cold is an issue, but is this essentially an outdoor environment? Smoke detectors will run into lots of issues with contamination and trouble conditions if it is open to dirt, dust, and bugs.
It’s a crawl space in a garage. It’s insulated and covered, but there’s no temperature control.
I am looking at the install directions for IQ Temp and it says:
6A. LEARN AS LOW TEMP (40°F) - Type in “L” DL code for low temp
6B. LEARN AS HIGH TEMP (100°F). Type in “H” DL code for high temp
Does that mean the low and high temperature reports appear as different sensors to the alarm panel and I can just not learn one of them?
It does also say “Temperature check every 5 minutes” which means it’s probably not the greatest for fire detection.
Sorry let me clarify, yes it can be programmed as high temp I misspoke there, but it is only for 100 degrees ambient sustained heat and that cannot be changed. It is not the same as a rate of rise heat (fire) sensor, and it won’t trigger immediately upon the condition occurring.
It does also say “Temperature check every 5 minutes” which means it’s probably not the greatest for fire detection.
Correct, it is not for fire detection. It is only for ambient temp alerts. The temp sensor could be used to notify if the pipes are at risk of freezing, but it can’t really be used to detect an acute fire as it is not designed for such a thing.
Ok thanks! I’m surprised there’s not more options for a garage - not sure what most people do there.
I did see Interlogix SDX-135Z is a combo Smoke, Heat and Freeze detector that goes down to 32F, but not sure what’s going to happen if it dips 5 degrees below that once a year during a cold snap.
The only other option I see is a First Alert HD6135FB hardwired and then maybe using a FireFighter Audio Detector to get the alarm signal to the panel, which might be the best option. It has an operating temp down to -10F. The main disadvantage here is running power to it.
Thank you!
One option which would allow a variety of hardwired options would be the PG9WLSHW8 translator. The translator could be placed inside the home, and your chosen wired heat sensor connected. It is a bit of an over-engineered solution, but probably the best one I know of for this kind of case.
Jump to the smoke and heat sensor section in the manual here.