Interlinked Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Wired or Wireless, what is the difference?

This maybe something that you have no control over as the type of alarms that you require may be subject to building control or a fire risk assessment. However, as wireless technology is constantly improving, in many cases you can install wireless interlinked alarms instead of wired.

Wired

Wired alarms are generally the cheaper option to purchase, however, they will need to be installed by a qualified electrician into the mains lighting circuit or through a dedicated circuit from the fuse board. They will either have a lithium or alkaline back up battery, meaning if the mains power fails your system will still provide protection for smoke and CO detection. All the alarms are connected together via the wired circuit so that if one alarm triggers all the alarms in the series will alarm alerting all occupants to the danger present.

Wireless

Wireless or radio interlinked alarms are similar to stand alone alarms in that they do not need to be fitted by an electrician. They can either be powered by a lithium battery which should last the lifetime of the alarm, usually 10 years, or alkaline which will need to be replaced every 1-2 years. The alarms will need to be set up prior to installation to make sure that they can all ‘talk’ to each other – so if one alarm sounds all the alarms will sound quickly alerting the entire household of any danger. Depending on the manufacturer there will be a maximum number of units that you can have in one system.