by Ann Withanee — July 29, 2011—Silent Knight by Honeywell announces its Farenhyt line of fire alarm systems now protects 15 schools in Marion County, Florida, with more upgrades planned. More than 50 school facilities fall under the charge of this large school district, which frequently contends with fire protection upgrades.
A history of strong performance from local integrator Mid State Fire & Systems and its Farenhyt line of fire protection systems manufactured by Silent Knight will soon lead to more upgrades within the county’s schools in the near future. In total, 15 sizeable campuses composed of six or more buildings have been equipped with networked Farenhyt systems.
The next upgrade is set to take place at a 320,000 square-foot high school using one IFP-2000 addressable fire alarm control panel at its head-end and an SKE-450 voice evacuation system. Nine power supplies will be installed throughout the school to support the power demands and lengthy wire runs of this expansive network’s nearly 500 initiating and notification devices. The high school upgrade will also include one remote annunciator for easier network monitoring and control.
Located in rural central Florida, just northwest of Orlando, the region is subject to frequent lightning storms, particularly in the summer months. Consequently, the district requires robust fire alarm systems to handle the extreme weather.
Along these same lines, fiber optic cable is the common wiring choice for all of Marion’s installations. “When you’re dealing with a fiber optic cable, you don’t have to worry about putting surge protection on it because glass doesn’t transmit lightning, static or surges,” says Monte Guerrette, general manager of Mid State, based in Ocala. In addition, fiber optic cable is typically less costly and not as limiting in distance between panels and devices, as is the case with copper wires, adds Guerrette.
Mid State worked closely with Marion County Schools’ facilities managers on both projects to execute seamless changeovers from the legacy systems.
