What is “Dust Compensation”?

Do you ever hear or read the phrase “Dust Compensation” amongst installers or suppliers and think to yourself… do they know something I don’t?

Maybe you’ve wondered what it is, what the benefits are and which products may feature it?

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

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The basic idea behind our dust compensation feature really does do what it says on the tin, the alarm compensates for dust coming in to the sensor to reduce the chances of a nuisance false alarm, while still upholding the same life-saving features to alarm the resident in the case of a real fire.

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It’s simple really, the sensor will need a certain amount of smoke particles to trigger the alarm, unfortunately dust can often account for these particles.

I know what you’re thinking, if the amount of particles allowed in to the alarm before it alerts is increased, won’t that increase the time before it alerts in case of a real fire?

Not at all!

Intelligent software keeps a constant eye on the dust levels in the chamber and adjusts the trigger threshold accordingly, therefore the product will always uphold its life-saving purpose.

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So how far do the benefits of this feature reach and which products have this advantage?

You may find yourself thinking this feature will mean you’ll never have to maintain your alarms or clean them ever again, right?

Unfortunately not, Best Practice Guide BS 5839-6: 2019 recommends that alarms are cleaned at least monthly.

The feature will, however, vastly decrease the number of false alarms you’ll encounter due to dust build up.

Products with Dust Compensation will have the ability to withstand up to twice the amount of dust build up compared to other conventional optical alarms, without setting off a false alarm.

Our innovative Dust Compensation feature is available in alarms with an Optical sensor in our 3000 Series – Ei3016 Optical and Ei3024 Optical and Heat Multi-Sensor.

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Our free to download AudioLINK App will allow you to check what level of Dust Compensation the sensor is at, at any time.

If the dust build up has reached the sensors limit of compensation the alarm will let you know with four short sharp beeps and four amber LED flashes, so you know it’s time for a clean.

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For help and guidance in cleaning your alarms, click here.

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By Matt

Matt is a part of the Marketing Team and loves to jog.