Many houses, including mine, were built before heat alarms were required in garages. I know my house specifically could benefit from one because there are bedrooms directly above it. What can we do? We would like to add some detection to it, but we would like to try to avoid smoke alarms because we know they can cause issues in garages. We also need a wireless solution, as we don’t want to run any wires unless absolutely necessary, and there are no hardwired smoke alarm locations anywhere near the garage. Our house currently has Kidde smoke alarms and a Ring Alarm security system if that helps with considerations. I really don’t understand why smoke alarm manufacturers don’t appear to make any wireless heat alarms, as I feel it is a very necessary thing.
Sadly, your current systems really limit your options. The only heat alarm in Kidde’s lineup is the hardwired HD135F, and the Ring Alarm isn’t much help either because it uses Z-Wave instead of a proper security wireless protocol (such as PowerG). While I did find one or two Z-wave heat detectors out there, they aren’t UL or ETL listed.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Z-Wave or Zigbee based alarm systems in the first place, though. Protocols designed explicitly for security use are a better choice, and you can get all-in-one equipment from the likes of Qolsys (my personal pick, as it can use PowerG, which is the gold standard in wireless security protocols), Ajax (using their Jeweller wireless protocol), or DMP or ELK, using their own 2-way protocols. The Honeywell Home/Resideo ProSeries panels with SiX series sensors and 2Gig panels with E+ sensors also fit the bill here, as they too have 2-way wireless support when paired with the correct sensors.
it doesn’t help that wireless interconnect is more or less the bastard of the smoke alarm world. Support for it seems to wax and wane, compared to the more established wireless protocols used for intrusion sensors.
So, my recommendation for a “right now” thing would be to trade in the Ring Alarm and your Z-Wave stuff for an IQ4 panel and PowerG sensors, which’d also let you replace your smoke alarms with PowerG wireless smoke detectors, and put a PowerG wireless heat detector in the garage. (About the only thing that isn’t yet available as PowerG wireless is fuel gas detection. The good news is that Qolsys makes hardwired-to-wireless conversion setups that are rated for life safety device use, unlike most other wireless security vendors, so you could use something like a Macurco GD-2B interfaced to a PG9WLSHW8/PG9HRDW8 to add gas detection to your system.)
The other big option would be to retrofit the place with fire sprinklers, since waterflow detection from a sprinkler system is considered equivalent to automatic heat detection by the Codes. This would be a much more involved job (it might require a master plumber to upgauge your water service line in addition to a sprinklerfitter) but it would give you a very high standard of fire protection (#fastestwater), and could be tied into your existing smoke alarms to set them off (using a SM120X connected to the waterflow switch).
That all said, if you want to stick with the Ring Alarm, you could get a Retrofit Alarm Kit from Ring and wire a hardwired conventional (contact closure) heat alarm to it using a length of 18/2 FPL. This’d be the cheapest option by far, but would only integrate the heat detector with the Ring Alarm, not your smoke alarms.
(There’s also the very silly option, which would be to use a Potter SignaLink to bridge a hardwired/conventional heat alarm to a SM120X that sets off the smokes. But, that’d be costly enough that you might as well do the whole security system rip and replace dance for the pricetag.)
I’ll see what we can do. I don’t think replacing the security system is going to be an option, as that would be far too expensive, and we are also using Ring cameras that have the same monitoring bill. Sprinklering the house definitely also isn’t an option for the same reason. We will either have to find something to work with the Ring Alarm or existing smoke alarms, or bite the bullet and pay to get a hardwired location in the garage. I can’t believe that Kidde these smoke alarm brands don’t make a wireless heat alarm. That would be useful in almost all houses that weren’t built recently.
One other, rather Rube Goldberg-ish, option would be to use the Retrofit Alarm Kit with the hardwired heat detector, then add a Z-Wave relay module to the Ring system and have that trigger the smokes via a SM120X. (The Kidde detectors I’ve tested, at least, produce T3 tone when fed a continuous signal on the interconnect line.)
I thought fire detectors werent supported on retrofit kit unless it is changed now
The issue with most wireless retrofit kits is they aren’t supported or rated for life safety service. However, a heat detector isn’t rated for life safety use ITFP, so it’s not an issue for the OP’s usecase.
As to the PowerG/Qolsys retrofit kits I mentioned? They say right in the datasheet that they support smoke detectors (either 2-wire or 4-wire, but not both at the same time).
I’m not sure what your local codes say, but the only code sections I have ever seen require a heat alarm are NFPA 1 section 13.3.2.20.4.2 and NFPA 101 section 33.2.3.5.7.2, which permit heat alarms as an alternative to heat detectors in attics of existing small residential board and care occupancies. These sections are relevant because NFPA 1 section 13.7.2.21.1.1 and NFPA 101 section 33.2.3.4.1.1 allow existing small residential board and care occupancies to omit a fire alarm system if all of their smoke alarms are interconnected and at least one pull station is provided on each floor to activate the smoke alarms, as the heat alarms would presumably be interconnected to the smoke alarm network. Wireless heat alarms would be useful to meet this requirement in an existing residential board and care occupancy with an attic that has neither sprinklers nor electrical wiring, but that is such a small population that many companies probably didn’t think it was worth producing.
In my area, a heat alarm that is interconnected with the rest of the house’s smoke alarms is required to be installed in any attached garage, shop, or other area where a smoke alarm cannot be used.