Fire Life Safety – Guardian Systems

Integration with Standard Home Security

Maximize your home security potential

A home fire alarm system is usually part of a total security system providing burglary protection in addition to fire protection. Such a system supervises doors, windows, and spaces within the home for break-in and may provide monitoring services by dialing your telephone to report a fire or intrusion to a security office where it will be reported to your local police or fire department.

Photoelectric vs. Ionization

A smoke detector comparison.

Smoke detectors typically come in two varieties: photoelectric and ionization. At their most basic level of purpose, each one does what it’s supposed to, but they do so in two very different ways. Ionization smoke detectors, in layman’s terms, detect smoke that is too small for the human eye to see. There’s some science to it, but that’s the basic idea.

A photoelectric smoke detector works very differently. To break it down very simply, there’s essentially a small light inside the sensor itself. When smoke enters the sensor, it causes the light to break up and start reflecting in different directions inside the sensor—and when that happens, it triggers the alarm itself.

When comparing the two, a photoelectric smoke detector is almost universally superior. Ionization detectors are prone to false alarms that are more nuisance than anything else. Have you ever had a little smoke come out of the kitchen while cooking, and out of nowhere the smoke alarm goes off? It’s probably because you’ve been using an ionization detector. A photoelectric detector, on the other hand, doesn’t typically get fussy about that sort of thing. They’re also much better than ionization detectors at picking up a fire that’s been smoldering. This is an important distinction, since it’s usually smothering by smoke that kills people in a fire—not the fire itself. Additionally, in a study done by News Channel 5 of Nashville, TN, it was shown that a full seven minute difference in alarm-triggering time existed in favor of photoelectric over ionization detectors. This may not seem like much, but it is more than enough of a window to determine whether you and your family are able to escape a deadly situation.

One Fire Can Change Everything

When your alarm is activated and then triggered by an event like a burglary or fire, Guardian immediately goes into action.

Your home security monitoring system instantly sends a signal to the Central Monitoring Station, prompting our highly trained agents to react by contacting you via two-way voice or by phone.

The Monitoring Station Operator will ask you to provide your password. In case you accidentally set off your system, Guardian will clear the alarm from any emergency dispatch.