Grinnell Mutual Answers Questions about Home Fire Sprinkler Systems

Grinnell Mutuals Special Investigations Unit releases a video in which investigators describe how home sprinkler systems work to protect lives and property. This video follows a home fire safety burn cell demonstration released in March that showed the effectiveness of residential sprinkler systems.

Grinnell, Iowa (PRWEB) April 23, 2013

Sprinkler systems absolutely save lives. Im not aware of any fire fatalities in a commercial building that had a sprinkler system installed in which someone died from a normal fire. An event such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks are an exception, said Clark, assistant vice president of Grinnell Mutuals Special Investigations Unit. Beyond that, Ive never heard of any fire deaths reported in a residential structure in which sprinklers were installed and a fire occurred.

According to Knobloch, wet systems are commonly used for home sprinkler systems. In a wet system, water runs into the pipes from the water meter to the sprinkler head.

The sprinkler head is mounted into either the ceiling or wall as determined by the specs for the home, explained Knobloch, Special Investigations manager. If a fire occurs, the heat generated from the fire activates the sprinkler head. Water is released into the room, suppressing the fire until fire personnel arrive to do the complete extinguish.

While home sprinkler systems do not extinguish fires, they do allow time for people to evacuate time that is critical in allowing people to escape a burning building. Temperatures in a room without a sprinkler system are estimated to reach flashover the point at which all combustible materials in a room simultaneously ignite within just five minutes of a small fire beginning.

Once the sprinkler system activates, it will suppress the fire long enough for anyone in the building to get out, said Knobloch.

Can sprinklers be installed in existing homes?

While its easier to install a home sprinkler system in the course of construction, it is possible to install a system in an existing home.

With new construction you can lay out the sprinkler system in the blueprints and have everything installed before drywall or carpets are put in. But, you can retrofit an existing home using ceiling and wall mounts, said Clark. In fact, you can cover most of the areas in existing homes at a fairly modest expense and without a lot of interruption to your daily life.

Excerpt from:
Grinnell Mutual Answers Questions about Home Fire Sprinkler Systems