What is a Ceiling Speaker Fire Hood and When Do You Need One?

A fire hood is an enclosure for a ceiling speaker which goes over the top of the speaker and maintains the integrity of your ceiling. Whilst the speakers do not represent a fire risk in themselves, if you are unlucky enough to have a house fire the speakers will not survive the heat for an hour and so will allow the fire to progress upwards at a faster rate than normal. The hoods give an hour’s fire break, ensuring that your house is as protected against fire break as it was pre-installation.

Fire hoods also have the added bonus of providing a good level of of sound proofing between floors, meaning there is a reduced amount of sound travelling upwards from the speaker. This is a very worthwhile benefit if someone lives or works in the room above where the speakers will be installed.

Do I Need a Fire Hood?

If you have contractors doing your installation they will be legally required to adhere to fire safety regulations, which means you will need to install fire hoods. Whilst you are not legally required to install fire hoods if doing the installation yourself we recommend them due to the issues you may run into with fire inspectors or insurers if you have not adhered to fire safety regulations. However, if the project is within a single story extension, a bungalow or if there is only loft space above the ceiling speakers you would not need to install fire hoods..

The regulation in question is from the IEE Wiring Regulations Handbook:

Regulation 527-02-01 “Where cables pass through a wall or floor that is a fire barrier, the hole round the cable shall be sealed to the same degree of fire resistance as the wall or floor”

Which Fire Hood Do I Need?

We have a range of fire hoods available suitable for varying sizes of speakers. If you know what speakers you are buying then you should purchase the hoody based on the overall diameter and depth of the speaker. The speakers listed below will also provide an adequate amount of acoustic protection.

BluCube Universal Fire and Acoustic Hood = As this hood can be cut to a required size it is suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter ranging from 200mm-250mm and a depth of 150mm.

Lithe Audio 270 Fire Hood = As this hood can be cut to a required size it is suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter ranging from 200mm-250mm and a depth of 150mm.

Lithe Audio 250 Fire Hood = Suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter of 200mm-250mm and a depth of up to 250mm. *Note - This hoody will provide only the minimum acoustic protection due to it being quite thin, it does however still adhere to all fire safety regulations.

Hoody 0.5 = Suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter and depth of 160mm x 145mm (3-5 inches).

Hoody 1 = Suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter and depth of 265mm x 160mm (5-6 inches).

Hoody 2 = Suitable for circular speakers with an overall diameter and depth of 335mm x 180mm (8-10 inches).

Hoody 3 = Suitable for square or rectangular speakers with overall dimensions and depth of 250mm x 350mm x 160mm.

Hoody 4 = Suitable for square or rectangular speakers with overall dimensions and depth of 335mm x 450mm x 180mm.

As always, we are more than happy to help you with any questions you have about any of our products, or planning an audio system in general. You can submit a contact form here, email us at sales@ceilingspeakerworld.co.uk or just give us a ring on 03456 804 104