Recommendations for Outdoor Warning Sirens
As a historical group, we must provide recommendations on what to do with sirens and how to operate them. Know that these are just recommendations and not directions. It is sometimes best to tinker with recommendations to find what works best. However, we find these recommendations work best for everyone.
Testing Time and Schedule
Avoid Over- and Under-Sounding
Maintenance
We recommend that sirens be tested at least, once a week or once a month. If you choose to do it once a week it is typically a light test that is required and only a 15-second sound off is needed of a study tone or wavering tone. On the other hand, if you are doing a monthly test we typically recommend that it be a longer blast such as to 45 seconds of a wavering tone and 30 seconds of a steady tone. The next part of this would be deciding what day this test will occur. We recommend Saturdays or Sundays and 12:00 P.M. or 5:00 P.M. We find these times work best because they allow people to report if the siren is not sounding. It is also the time in which other departments typically test their sirens. For a monthly test, we typically recommend the first Sunday or Saturday of the month for the same reasons.
When a municipality uses a siren as a form of communication it is typically understood that the siren should not sound a lot or a little. This is because if it sounds a lot people will get used to it and not differentiate when it is a actual emergency or when the siren is trying to communicate something important. On the other hand if the siren sounds too little it could put people in panic that do not know that it does not pertain to them. This principle is especially true with fire sirens. This is why so many departments feel the need to deactivate them because of over- or under-sounding
Sirens of any kind including electromechanical and electronic sirens should be maintained. A siren should be inspected every month to make sure that there is nothing inside of the siren that should not be like a bird's nest. A siren should also be maintained every year. This will include redoing the paint or cleaning doing these little things can help prevent major problems. However, sometimes they are inevitable. If you find it difficult to diagnose a problem or find it difficult to repair a problem please contact us we will be able to help to the best of our ability, remember our advice is completely free.