Home Fire Sprinklers

The combination of working smoke alarms and home fire sprinklers reduces the likelihood of death from fire by more than 80 percent.

The most effective fire loss prevention and reduction measures for both life and property is the installation and maintenance of home fire sprinklers. Fire sprinkler systems offer the optimum level of fire safety because they control the fire immediately in the room of origin, help limit the spread of fire, and often extinguish it before the fire department arrives.

What do home fire sprinklers do?

Home fire sprinklers automatically contain a fire, preventing it from spreading. Only the sprinklers in the fire area are activated.

Are home fire sprinklers costly and difficult to install?

Home fire sprinklers use narrow piping that requires minimal water pressure to move water from the tap to the source of a fire. Home sprinklers require less water to operate than those in industrial or commercial establishments. In general the cost of installing sprinklers in a new home is approximately 1 percent of the total cost of the home. Older homes can be retrofitted with sprinklers, but the cost may be higher than when installing them during the new home construction process.

Advantages for the homeowner:

• Sprinklers can put out or contain a fire even before the fire department arrives. This results in less overall damage to property from smoke, fire, and water than if the fire had continued unabated or if firefighting hoselines had been used.
• Home sprinklers are smaller than commercial and industrial sprinklers, and they can be aesthetically coordinated with any room decor.
• Families with children, senior citizens, and physically impaired members have special fire protection needs. Home sprinklers systems provide added protection for these people.

Information obtained from the U. S. Fire Administration