Really Cut Down on Fire Damage
The combined use of smoke alarms and sprinkler systems can reduce the number of home fire fatalities by 82 percent. In any discussion of residential sprinkler systems, the elephant in the room is always the cost. We’ll get that out of the way now. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the cost in new construction is between $1 and $1.50 per square foot of the home. According to a professional installer in the Southwest, that cost is more like $2.50 to $3.50 for both new construction and retrofitting an existing residence. Considering the discrepancy, check with your local installer before you discard the idea because of cost.
A good way to look at the cost of a system in new construction is to compare it to a carpet upgrade or similar amenity, roughly one- to two-percent of the total cost of construction. Most insurance companies provide a premium discount of 5- to 15-percent on homes with systems.
If your home or those living in it are considered high-risk, think of the cost as potentially saving a life or at least reducing the loss in property in the event of a fire.
Background
Sprinkler systems in commercial buildings are nothing new. The New England textile mills were protected by sprinklers over 100 years ago following a series of fires that destroyed both buildings and lives. Systems in schools, office buildings, factories and other commercial buildings have been in use nearly that long.
As systems became more popular in residential construction, the costs and the technology improved. Nearly 40 years ago, communities in Southern California passed building code ordinances requiring systems in all new construction. Today, over 300 communities have followed suit. Because of the cost, the building industry has been slow to embrace the concept, especially developers of middle-income housing in a highly competitive real estate market.
Advantages
The benefits of a sprinkler system are obvious. They put out small fires before they become life- and property-threatening.
Let’s walk through a home fire. The first flames and smoke set off a smoke alarm. The family evacuates and calls the local fire department. Fire fighters arrive, assess the situation, set up their equipment and begin to fight the flames. How much time has passed? Depending on how far away the home is from emergency services, it could be 10, 20 minutes or longer. Without a sprinkler system, that gives the fire plenty of time to become well established and the home totally involved in flames.
Sprinkler systems are on duty 24/7 whether you’re at home or not. For those in a high risk category for fire injury or death, sprinklers can keep the fire under control allowing extra time for evacuation. They also reduce the risk of injury to fire fighters. Home systems are more sensitive to heat and react more quickly than the older, commercial systems. They also use up to 20-percent of the water used by fire fighters, reducing loss to water damage.
Residential sprinklers are smaller than the obtrusive style used in commercial buildings and can be worked into a room’s decor and mounted flush with the ceiling or hidden by protective covers. The use of PVC rather than steel piping has reduced the cost of materials. In addition, systems can be connected to an alarm monitoring service or an external alarm that notifies neighbors of the fire.
Sprinkler Misconceptions
There are misconceptions about sprinklers. Do they cause more damage than they prevent? Are they worth the cost? The worthiness is for you to determine, but today’s systems are as close to foolproof as modern technology can make them. Research indicates that only one in 16 million sprinkler heads ever activates by mistake.
Sprinklers are designed to go off if the temperature reaches 135 to 165 degrees F. Most residential fires can be controlled by just one sprinkler and 90-percent of all fires are usually controlled by six or fewer heads.
If you live in a cold winter climate, there are alternatives to water-filled pipe systems: dry pipe and preaction sprinklers. Insulation specifically molded for piping is available to protect pipes running through unheated attics. Basically, there is no freezing danger unique to sprinkler systems that does not also impact all home water pipes. Conversely, if you’ve figured out the simple precautions to prevent your water pipes from freezing and bursting, those same techniques will also prevent ruptures in your sprinkler system lines.
How Sprinklers Work
Sprinkler systems are not rocket science. They generally measure about 1-5/8- by 1-1/4-inches. Some are recessed into the ceiling with only the lower 1/2-inch of the head visible; others are completely recessed and camouflaged with a flat plate. The head threads into a pipe in the ceiling. A cap seals the opening preventing water from flowing out. A simple glass bulb filled with water holds the cap seal in place. Heat from a fire expands the liquid and causes the glass bulb to break releasing the seal. Water flows through the head and is dispersed into a spray by the deflector at the bottom of the head.
One final note for homeowners in rural/urban interface areas, a fancy way of saying you live in a rural area or a subdivision surrounded by open, native vegetation. We’ve all seen footage of homes literally exploding before they are even touched by flames. The intense heat build up causes the temperature in the interior of the home to rise to very dangerous levels. Sprinklers are activated by heat, not by flames. You see where we’re going with this. Many fire agency officials recognize that sprinkler systems can maintain a safe temperature level inside a home surrounded by burning structures and vegetation. Water damage vs. ashes: not a difficult choice to make.
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