Month: April 2019

In these days of high-rise apartment living and offices in towering skyscrapers, keeping the spaces fire safe and well utilised can be a headache for developers, especially if they want to maintain an attractive and discrete appeal to residents and users.

Fire alarm wallpaper is a concept created by the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics and Academy of Sciences. This cutting-edge wallpaper contains nano-wires made from hydroxyapatite which is a non-flammable material naturally found in bones and teeth.

How does it work? The inflammable paper is coated with an ink made from graphene oxide. When exposed to temperatures over 130 degrees, the oxygen-containing elements of the ink are burnt off, leaving a material that conducts electricity. This forms part of an electronic circuit that can be connected to an alarm, emergency lights, or even a sprinkler system.

So, if the wallpaper is exposed to fire, it completes the circuit to set off an alarm.
The paper, which takes two seconds to respond to the heat, can conduct electricity for approximately five minutes.

The benefits of this wallpaper can be two-fold, firstly it is highly fire resistant, unlike conventional wallpaper which is a considerable fire risk and can be responsible for spreading fire to a catastrophic level, the other benefit is that any fire can be quickly identified and isolated provided each room has the wallpaper.

Nano materials are the new hero ingredients of the 21st century and the same technology has been used in hair dye, water filters and night vision goggles. Tests are underway to fit nano technology into concrete so that the fire alarm will literally be built in future developments.
For all your fire safety needs, including smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and fire blankets contact us at Bath & West Fire & Safety.

Bathrooms today are getting ever-more sophisticated.  Gone are the days of the ‘thunder-box’ lavatory cast away in the smallest room of the house, cold, grey and ‘now wash your hands’ paper.  The seat of invention for the WC of 2019 has to be that of the Japanese.  Not only the pleasure of a throne warmed to skin temperature.  In between flushes, the plastic covered seat rotates to give each fresh cheek the cushioned comfort of a brand-new cover.  Tiny sprays of water can massage from a gentle tapotement to a directed jet to hit the spot.  It doesn’t stop there, tinkling melodic music and soft lighting can relax the user into a pleasurable experience that may feel even ‘spiritual’ as gentle warm breezes dry the nether regions.

 

But in these days of thinking through wise use of space and dual usage there is one Japanese manufacturer who is streets ahead – Yuriamikino is a well-known luxury brand, the inventor of the dual rice-maker/washing machine and the pasta/sushi/bird-feed roller combo, and most famously the bed/sitting/massage couch for cats.  Now Yuriamikino have put their designers to take the utility and safety test to invent a toilet named the Versailles which fits the standard required by its clients as well as a respected safety feature.  Upon detection of smoke the toilet will emit a strong jet of water to shoot out of the bowl and saturate the entire room thus negating any risk of fire spreading in the surrounding areas.  The results have been so effective that is has been discussed that strategically placed toilets could take the place of ceiling sprinklers in future luxury flats developments.

 

This invention is in the first stages of concept.  One of the problems may be that there will be some users who insist on smoking ‘on the throne’  – this presents a problem for the manufacturers in that the smoke detectors may pick up on the air quality  change, an alarm will sound and a jet of water shoot out of the toilet resulting in a ‘bullseye’ for the smoker.  The other design fault being addressed is that the water pressure may need to be adjusted to avoid over enthusiastic drenching which has been likened to a water cannon and reports have been received that users have been knocked off their feet having been caught during a malfunction.  Research has indicated that the most likely moment being when bread is being toasted elsewhere in the property.

Tests are currently being carried out and we will keep customers informed as to progress … but we think this may be some time. In the meantime for all your fire safety needs including fire risk assessments, installation and maintenance of fire alarms, smoke alarms, extinguishers, fire blankets and fire safety training for your staff contact us at Bath & West Fire & Safety.