Monitored smoke, heat and CO detection: what Ajax FireProtect 2 adds to the alarms you already have

Why the alarm on your ceiling is not enough

A standard smoke alarm does one thing well: it makes noise in the room it is in. If the house is empty, the noise reaches nobody. If you are asleep upstairs and the fire starts in the garage, the alarm that matters is the one nobody hears. Carbon monoxide is worse, because there is nothing to smell and the symptoms feel like a cold. A monitored detector fixes the gap between the beep and the phone call.

What FireProtect 2 detects

The UL version of Ajax FireProtect 2 RB carries three sensors in one housing: an optical smoke chamber, a thermistor for rapid temperature rise, and an electrochemical carbon monoxide sensor. The CO alarm thresholds follow the standard: 70 ppm over 60 to 240 minutes, 150 ppm over 10 to 50 minutes, and 400 ppm within 4 to 15 minutes1. Two replaceable CR123A batteries run it for up to 5 years, and the CO sensor has a 10-year service life. Ajax also sells heat-only, smoke-and-heat and CO-only versions for kitchens, garages and boiler rooms.

What "monitored" changes

When one detector fires, three things happen at once. It sounds locally. Every other FireProtect 2 on the same hub sounds too, so a fire in the garage wakes the bedrooms. And the hub sends the event out: to your phone through the Ajax app, and to Becklar, a UL-listed central station, if you carry professional monitoring. The station calls you, then dispatches. That last step is the one a basic hardware-store alarm cannot do.

Why it supplements the alarms code requires

Washington requires smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level, plus carbon monoxide alarms outside sleeping areas. Those alarms carry their own household listing. FireProtect 2 UL is listed to UL 268 and UL 2075, the standards for detectors that report to a system2. That is the right listing for a monitored detector and the wrong one to hang a code inspection on. So we leave the required alarms in place and add FireProtect 2 where the monitoring earns its keep. That is the hallway outside the bedrooms, the main living level, the garage as heat-only, and the mechanical room for CO. Nothing is removed. Something is added that calls for help.

Where the detectors go

The manual is specific: the center of the ceiling, at least 12 inches from light fixtures and anything else that could interfere with detection3. We place one per sleeping area and one per level as a minimum. A heat-only unit goes in the garage, where a smoke chamber would false on exhaust, and a CO unit near any gas appliance or an attached garage. On a three-bedroom Kent or Tacoma house that is four to six detectors. The ADU page covers the detached unit, which needs its own coverage.

What it costs

The detectors are priced per unit on the walk-through proposal, placement and setup included; the Ajax cost page shows what the system they join costs. They join the same hub as the alarm, so there is no second system, no second app and no second monitoring bill. If the house has no Ajax system yet, the home security page is the place to start; fire detection is added to that proposal.

Need it installed?

Rivas Technology Group is an Ajax Systems dealer, listed on ajax.systems, and installs Ajax across south King County and Pierce County from Kent under WA electrical contractor license RIVASGL799DR. Water leak detection with automatic shutoff runs on the same hub, on the water leak detection page. Book a walk-through below.