Ok, so we all know that horn strobes in restrooms can be a bad idea but what about speaker strobes?
- Yes
- No
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Speaker/strobes are definitely better in this case since tones & voice messages played over a speaker have to be less earsplitting & echoey than sounds emitted by a piezo horn.
I’d say that it’s important to have speaker strobes in restrooms because they are used for more that fire emergencies and people may miss important announcements if they don’t hear it in the restroom. This is especially true for restrooms that are not single person. I think they should make sure to set them on a low wattage, though. If it is still too loud, they should put a high wattage speaker directly outside of the restroom.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
I agree with that, that was what I was thinking.
Neither are a “bad idea”. If the bathroom is large enough such that the alarm(s) located outside do not provide enough audibility to notify the occupants inside, one should be installed within the bathroom. Pure and simple. The maximum allowable sound pressure a fire alarm signal is allowed to produce is 110 db, so even alarms that produce 93-95 dB will not violate this rule.
Because of the inverse square law, the sum of two sound pressures that are at least 10 dB apart (e.g. the sum of 55 and 65 dB) is the same as the higher of the two (i.e., 55+65=65).
So, even in a bathroom with an ambient sound pressure level of 65 dB, an alarm that produces 85 dB will produce a sum of 85 dB. Doesn’t violate your 110 dB rule and is allowable.
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For clarity of audio, speaker strobes in the bathroom are a good idea. Especially for MNS. Also like @_azln said, a large enough bathroom may need an audible appliance horn or speaker.
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