OREANDA-NEWS. Power management company Eaton announced its SAFEPATH® emergency communications system, audio boosters, and Wheelock high fidelity speakers are now Underwriters Laboratories® (UL)-listed to meet the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) low frequency tone requirements for sleeping areas.

Eaton’s SAFEPATH SP40S, a multi-use system for emergency messaging, paging and voice evacuation, can be packaged together with SAFEPATH audio boosters and Wheelock high fidelity speakers to provide a complete solution, approved for sounding 520 Hertz (Hz) low frequency tones in sleeping room accommodations. The NFPA codes affect sounders in hotel guest rooms, school dormitories, apartment buildings, and assisted living facilities for both fire alarm and carbon monoxide (CO) signaling.

“Research has demonstrated that low-frequency tones are an important and effective way to awaken people in the event of fire or CO detection,” said Huyenchau Villas, product manager at Eaton. “Eaton’s SAFEPATH system is designed to provide low-frequency tones followed by voice instructions with clear, intelligible messages broadcasted from Wheelock’s high-fidelity speakers to help ensure that the complete message will be understood in order to direct people to safety.”

Effective January 1, 2015, the NFPA 720 Standard for the Installation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detection and Warning Equipment (2009 edition) requires audible alarms in sleeping rooms to produce a low frequency temporal pattern (T4) for carbon monoxide (CO) detection. This change follows the updates to the 2010 and 2013 editions NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code requiring audible alarms in sleeping rooms shall produce a low frequency pattern (T3) effective January 1, 2014 to improve the effectiveness of waking up individuals in the event of the fire.

Eaton’s packaged SAFEPATH, audio boosters, and speaker system is the company’s second solution to meet NFPA’s sleeping room code requirements. In May of 2014, Eaton introduced its Wheelock Exceder low frequency sounders, which was the first product line in the industry to meet both NFPA 72 and 720 520 Hertz (Hz) code requirements for sleeping areas.

Eaton provides integrated, advanced technology and code-compliant solutions for life safety and mass notification, providing critical emergency communications for higher education, industrial, commercial, government and military markets. 

Eaton’s electrical business is a global leader with expertise in power distribution and circuit protection; backup power protection; control and automation; lighting and security; structural solutions and wiring devices; solutions for harsh and hazardous environments; and engineering services. Eaton is positioned through its global solutions to answer today’s most critical electrical power management challenges.

Eaton is a power management company with 2015 sales of $20.9 billion. Eaton provides energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably. Eaton has approximately 97,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.