Door Industry Journal - Winter 2014

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk fire & security feature 71 THE door industry journal winter 2014 The argument for keeping fire doors open Whilst it may seem counter-intuitive, legally keeping large heavy doors open can offer businesses and organisations some clear benefits, such as ensuring full compliance with equality legislation without compromising their health and safety strategies. Keeping the doors open also adds to a feeling of openness, improves ventilation and reduces wear and tear of doors, and can reduce long-term maintenance costs. Traditional wired-in fire door holder and closer systems are expensive to install and their installation will often cause major disruption to a building and its occupants. The arrival of first generation acoustic systems gave businesses an affordable solution that could be installed rapidly with no disruption to occupiers, but questions have increasingly been asked about some aspects of their performance including their tendency to falsely activate and damage flooring. Now there’s a new state-of-the-art ‘Listen and Learn’ digital technology solution that has been developed to deliver trouble- free control of wire-free fire door holders and closers. This advanced ‘hearing’ technology overcomes the problems associated with false activations caused by extraneous noises such as vacuum cleaners or high power floor polishing machines triggering a fire door’s unwanted closure. New generation, wire-free, digital door technology that’s a clever innovation Fire technology specialists Geofire has launched its new wire-free Agrippa range, comprising a digital door closer and door holder. Both products having been developed by the company’s team of fire safety product experts to address many of the historic problems associated with wire-free fire door holders and closers. The Agrippa acoustic, magnetic fire door holder is designed to be mounted behind the door at either floor level or at the top of the door, whilst the Agrippa fire door closer is an overhead battery powered acoustic door closer. Both products use advanced digital technology that uniquely ‘listens and learns’ the sound of a specific fire alarm. This ensures the device’s release action is triggered only in reaction to the precise, characteristic sound of the fire alarm rather than extraneous loud noises, so false activations are virtually eliminated. Installed at the top of a fire door, the Agrippa holder will not cause damage to flooring, and can be reapplied or moved with minimal fuss. Its unique learning function optimises settings to suit the installed position, and it can also be programmed for timed daily releases. It is approved to EN1155 and CE Marked. Sharing the same advanced functionality of the Agrippa holder, the new Agrippa intelligent wire-free closer learns the sound of a specific fire alarm, releasing the door in the event of a fire. The closer is swing-free, too, making the door responsively light to handle, and the simple answer to legally holding open fire doors to ease access. It’s also the solution for doors without an adjacent wall for separate door holders. The closer’s closing speed is adjustable, with a holding angle of 65-105 degrees, and it can be programmed for daily release. The closer is approved to EN1155, EN1154 and CE Marked. Solving the persistent wedged door problem As a retrofit solution, Agrippa wire-free devices are designed for ease of installation and can be fitted quickly to any door. For end users and installers, the certainty of problem-free door holder and closer solutions is a benefit that brings savings in both time and labour. In addition, staff downtime is minimised and basic wear and tear on doors and flooring is significantly reduced. ...Continued overleaf