What Are Fire Alarm Heat Detector Specification for EN54-5: Basics & Principles

Heat detectors are typically used in settings where smoke detectors are not applicable. For instance, in the kitchen or shower, a smoke detector may cause false alert. Rate of rise heat detectors are useful to notice potential fires in early stages.

To understand the mandatory EN54-5 standard requirement for heat detector in a fire alarm system, we will look at how a heat detector should be tested, specified and function, for sales and distribution in the European market.

Heat Detector/Linear Point Detector can be classified by temperature as follow:

As stated by the requirement, heat detector must conform & assign to one of category class above. In addition besides the above class, suffixes such as “S” or “R” may be indicated to note whether the detector is static or rate of rise. There are also time limit range in which it needs to be activated.

Detectors falling under class A1, A2, B, C or D should provide individual alarm indication when they are reset, with a light level of 500 lux when viewed directly below at a distance of 6 metres. For class E, F or G, the detectors should provide either a red indicator or other methods to indicate the current status.

Besides functional testing, the heat detector needs to be able to withstand environmental changes such as low temperature, high temperature, humidity & corrosion, vibration, shock & EMC.

Appearance wise, the detector should not be accessible for tampering by special tools or passwords.

For more heat alarm information or any OEM/ODM projects, please contact us at Key Security for more information.