White Wheelock MTs in Jewel-Osco Stores

I’ve got a few Jewel Osco stores in my area that we go to often to shop.

One of those has old ceiling mounted Federal Signal horns, but it, and one other Jewel I have been to have white Wheelock MT horn/strobes. And they aren’t around the store. They are only in the bakery and the deli. There is usually one mounted on either side of the deli and bakery, and one in the middle or something.

Do you know if they are used for fire alarm service, or if they are used for general notification, like if the ovens are overheating or something?

The one without the FS horns just seems to have no fire alarm system at all, besides the MT’s. It’s just a bit weird. The next time we go, I’ll see if I can snap a pic of one.

do the mts say fire or alert

The local Albertson’s has white MTs as well. They’re by the refrigerators and have little signs that say “refrigerant leak alarm”
Maybe it’s for that?

I believe they are unmarked.

And maybe that’s what they are for. But it’s funny how they would choose strobes for something like that.

You’d think just a horn set to code 3 tone would be fine.

Who knows

I was thinking for that application, they would set it to bell, or hi-lo.

code 3 is an evac tone

I think code 3 can be used for other applications than evac. I saw a video once, of a burglar alarm sounding in code 3 (I don’t think it was a hobbyist system).

Wouldn’t that confuse people because code-3 is usually associated with evacuation alarms?

I’m not sure. Most people probably don’t even associate temporal code with fire alarms, unless it is that stereotypical smoke alarm/Wheelock NS type noise we have all heard.

Not only that some people Ignore fire alarms sadly.

I would venture to say that if a fire alarm system went off because of legitimate fire conditions, almost no one would evacuate a store. That’s the problem with traditional horns, everyone assumes it’s a false alarm or fire drill and don’t take it seriously. (Vimpex, a European fire alarm company, did a study about that for their Fire-Cryer line of voice sounders, their equivalent to speaker-strobes.) That’s why I think that voice evacuation, or horn-strobes used in conjunction with the PA system, is the way to go in public buildings.

I think people listen to horns then they do speakers

What do you mean “horn-strobes used in conjunction with the PA system”?

Well, for example, my elementary school setup had Integrities being used for the NA’s and the PA system was either playing a hi-lo tone, or the administrators were giving instructions. Something like that.

That has its advantages. The horns give an urgent feel, whereas the PA system gives instructions and also might play a calmer tone as well to allow for a calm exit.

well your soposed to leave a building quickly and calmly

Were you able to hear the instructions over the horns? It seems like the horns wouldn’t be in the classrooms, and just in the hallways.