Aico, UK’s market leader in domestic mains powered Fire and Carbon Monoxide (CO) detection, unveils the latest in Smoke and Heat Alarm technology with its new 160e Series.
With over £280 million of the 160 Series alarms sold to date, the new 160e Series builds on this high quality, reliable and proven technology to produce a cleaner, modern designed alarm containing a whole raft of enhancements to increase protection and performance.
The alarms have been completely redesigned to lend themselves to suiting most modern properties and to complement the latest Aico accessories. The new 160e design is up to 18% slimmer when compared to the previous 160RC Series alarms allowing them to be less obtrusive in the room, whilst maintaining the same easi-fit footprint making it simple to upgrade from previous Aico alarms.
The units have been made all the easier to install. Additional screw holes have been incorporated into the base to save on installation times with all hole positions matching previous alarm bases, removing the need to drill extra holes. The holes themselves have been adapted to enable N° 8 Screws to be used and bigger terminals have been incorporated to readily accommodate 1.5mm² cable, making it easier to wire. ‘O’ for Optical and ‘I’ for Ionisation have been imprinted on the alarm test buttons and colour coding added to the back of every alarm to make it easier to check the right alarm type is being fitted.
Components within the alarms provide improved performance in response time and resistance to false alarms. The Ei164e Heat Alarm has a new thermistor giving a faster alarm response when the trigger temperature is reached. The Ei166e Optical Alarm has a new cylindrical sensor chamber encapsulated by a bonded protective mesh to keep out potential contaminates such as dust and insects whilst still allowing the free flow of smoke.
With Aico’s award winning RadioLINK wireless alarm interconnection, a firm favourite of both installers and landlords, the 160e Series of alarms now comes with a plug in RadioLINK+ module negating the need for a separate RadioLINK base. The Ei100MRF RadioLINK+ module simply slots into the alarm and is automatically activated ready to be House Coded in with the rest of the system. Such a design saves on installation time and reduces associated costs.
With the introduction of the RadioLINK+ module, the House Coding slot has now been moved onto the actual alarm making it easy to access and use and, most importantly, enabling all the alarms to be House Coded in situ. This not only makes for quicker installation, but also allows the installer to check RF signal strength at the exact location the alarms will be when protecting the occupants and dwelling.
RadioLINK+ has also made it easier to expand existing systems. With RadioLINK+ only one alarm in the existing system needs putting into Remote House Code mode, which signals to all other devices on the house coded system that a new alarm/accessory needs adding, as opposed to all the alarms.
RadioLINK+ has an enhanced self-monitoring function that recognises system tampering or alarm head removal. Each alarm in the system has the ability to identify the alarm with the strongest Radio Frequency (RF) signal and automatically pair with it. At regular intervals, these paired alarms communicate with each other so that if one alarm is removed from its base the other will acknowledge the lack of response with an indicator light and log this in its memory, even if the missing alarm is replaced. It can also send an ‘Alarm Removed’ signal when connected to an Ei414 Fire/CO Alarm Interface and third party device, such as Warden Call or other monitoring systems.
Designed to provide flexible solutions, delivering the highest quality protection for BS 5839-6 Grade D applications, the new 160e Series includes Optical, Heat and Ionisation Alarm models. These mains powered alarms come with 10 year rechargeable Lithium cells to provide over six month’s back-up in the event of a mains failure. 160e alarms are compatible with existing Aico alarms and accessories, enabling for full system upgrades or simple system expansion using the new models.
The original 160 Series, launched in 1999, has been installed into millions of properties across the UK. Aico has invested considerably in the range over the years, with a number of key developments such as RadioLINK wireless alarm interconnection and remote control. The 160e is the next evolutionary step forward.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Ei Electronics, Aico is a market leader in residential fire and CO protection in the UK. All alarms are designed and built in Ireland specifically to meet the UK standards and regulations. 2015 sees Aico’s 25th anniversary. With more mains powered domestic smoke alarms installed in the UK’s social housing than any other manufacturer, Aico is tried, tested and trusted.
Aico has a dedicated team of Regional Managers to support specifications and supply of products. Aico also offers technical support over the phone and an internal sales team to help with any enquiries.
