A fire sprinkler system helps limit the damage caused by fire on a number of fronts: It puts out the flames quickly, but it also quickly reduces the amount of heat and smoke produced by combusting materials.
Back before sprinklers were required by regulations, many commercial buildings still used them both for safety and for another reason: insurance. The lowered insurance premiums would often cover the cost of the sprinkler systems, making it a win-win situation.
According to a joint study by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition and FM Global (an insurance provider), installing and maintaining fire sprinklers can reduce risk of fire damage by 97 percent.
While your smoke alarm can alert you to the presence of fire, it cannot extinguish it. Studies have shown that the best option is to pair a smoke alarm with a sprinkler system, as the sprinklers will fight the fire and give you enough time to escape.
If you have young children and pets in the home, you may find that getting every member of your family safely outside during a fire drill is more challenging than you first realized. Installing fire sprinklers in your home could give you the extra seconds you need to save your family.
Once your fire sprinklers are activated, they can really limit the damage the fire does to the rest of your home. Immediately, the sprinklers will start putting out the fire at its source, protecting other rooms from fire, heat, smoke, and water damage.
The chances of a fire sprinkler accidentally going off are extremely remote. The reason they can go off on accident usually involves someone hanging something on them or tampering with them.
If you’ve been hesitant to install fire sprinklers in your home because of how large and gaudy they always appear in hotels and office buildings, it may be time to look again. In many cases, residential sprinklers are smaller and more compact in appearance.
Will my business get soaked every time the sprinkler system goes off? That is a common misconception. A fire sprinkler system only is activated when a pre-determined temperature level is reached, and then only one sprinkler head at a time is engaged. If the temperature drops because the sprinkler head has doused a fire, no other sprinklers will go off.
Have you been avoiding installing fire sprinklers in your offices because of the potential for a false alarm creating a watery mess? While water may damage some office items, it’s the safer alternative to the destruction a fire causes.
Did you know that two of every five house fires are started in the kitchen? In fact, dinner preparation between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. is the peak for fire incidents. Sixty-two percent of reported house fire deaths are due to fires in the home with no protection systems present or functioning.
Pianos involve a lot of wood, so it makes sense that you’d want to minimize any fire hazards when you make them. So it makes sense that the first factory to have automatic sprinklers installed in the late 1800s was a piano factory.
There's a lot you can do to protect your home from fire. To control your fire risk, any open flame indoors or within 10 feet of your house should be monitored constantly. This includes fireplaces, grills, fire pits and even decorative candles.
What is a pre-action sprinkler system? This system also has no water in the pipes, much like a dry pipe systems. An initial trigger, perhaps by smoke, sends water into the pipes while the actual trigger from a sprinkler head then opens up sprinklers.
Did you know that residential fire sprinkler systems are designed to operate on a lot less water than industrial and business complex systems? Today’s residential fire sprinkler systems have been customized to fit the unique fire protection needs of homes.
Did you know that an American, Henry S. Parmalee, invented sprinklers in 1874 to protect his piano factory? Until the 1940s and 1950s, sprinklers were installed almost exclusively for the protection of buildings, especially warehouses and factories.
Having a working fire sprinkler system in your home or office can be a literal life-saver. In 2012, there were 1,375,000 fires reported throughout the United States. The property damage alone was more than $12.4 billion, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
I can get the same degree of protection from a smoke alarm as a fire sprinkler. Statistics show that smoke alarms and fire sprinklers work best together. However, smoke alarms by themselves reduce the risk of dying in a fire by 30 percent. A fire sprinkler system by itself reduces that risk by 80 percent.
Fire sprinklers immediately respond to a fire while it is still small, controlling the spread of deadly heat, flames and toxic smoke – whether or not the occupants have appropriately responded to the signaling smoke alarm.
When it comes to fire sprinkler systems, regular service and maintenance are very important. Sprinkler control valves need to be visually inspected on a regular basis to ensure that they are locked into the open position.
Do you have a vacation home that you visit only a few times a year? Protect your treasure with a fire sprinkler system to safeguard it during the times you are not there.
Have you thought that adding fire sprinklers to your house or to a new house will be too expensive? You might actually be surprised. Prices vary depending on the application and situation, but installing sprinklers can cost the same as carpet upgrades or paving a stone driveway.