Protect your home/real estate investment from fire outbreaks with the use of sprinklers

It is all too often that we see on the news or in our neighbourhoods another house going up in flames. Entire belongings gone in a flash, lives lost.

 

A simple initiative to curb this deadly hazard is the installation of sprinkler systems. More important than any other aesthetic based or luxury items in the home is the safety of the occupants. Truth be told, the best living conditions in any home are those that are safe first, then sustainable and energy efficient!

 

Many argue that sprinkler systems add an extra expense to the cost of construction, but when you are investing in building a home– safety should be a major priority. Every homeowner’s nightmare — a house fire, caused by faulty wiring, a kitchen accident, an act of nature or simple carelessness. When most homeowners think of house fires, they first consider the resulting property damage and the numbers are mind-blowing.

 

More sobering however, is the loss of life that often results from house fires. If residential sprinkler systems had been installed in those homes, property damage could have been, severely reduced if not avoided and lives could have been saved.

 

Despite this fact, many homeowners rarely consider installing a residential fire sprinkler system. This could be due to a variety of reasons. Swayed by common misconceptions, as well as what some perceive as an aesthetic issue, even safety-conscious homeowners steer away from home fire sprinkler systems, and this is a bit difficult to understand. This is slowly beginning to change, however, as more homeowners learn about the realities and benefits of these systems, and as updated, less conspicuous systems become available.

 

In an ironic twist, many homeowners believe that sprinkler systems will cause more damage to a home than the fire itself. But that’s faulty thinking. An average fire sprinkler system delivers eight to 10 times less water than the hoses used by firefighters to put out the flames, resulting in less water damage to a home. A fire hose dispenses up to 250 gallons of water per minute, while a typical residential sprinkler head will release just 25 gallons of water per minute. What’s more, the fire department applies hose streams to a house fire in broad sweeps, while a sprinkler system is much more targeted.

 

There’s another important point to consider. When a house fire occurs, a sprinkler can respond almost immediately, reducing the amount of damage caused by the fire. Damage from smoke will also be reduced in homes with sprinklers, because house fires were extinguished much more quickly.

 

Some homeowners worry that sprinklers will activate accidentally, for no reason, or that all sprinklers will activate for a small, localized fire. However, automatic fire sprinklers are individually heat-activated and tied into a network of pipes with water under pressure. Only those sprinklers in the immediate area of the fire will operate, optimizing the use of the limited water they distribute.

 

Another contention about sprinkler systems is that they will detract from the aesthetics of the home. However, newer systems feature sprinklers, or pendants, can be concealed. The sprinklers can be inconspicuously installed on a ceiling or wall and almost completely concealed by small plates that can be matched to a room’s colour scheme. An advantage of sprinkler systems besides the obvious – saving lives and property – is that some insurance companies offer discounts to homeowners with fire sprinkler systems installed.

 

It is clear that sprinkler systems can save lives and reduce property loss and should be considered an important option when building or remodeling a home.