Fire Sprinkler Installation
Fire Sprinkler Installation: How to Choose the Best System
The first step in getting a good fire sprinkler installation is to get a professional assessment of the requirements of your premises. It is important to realize that one size does not fit all, and that different experts will have their own preferences when it comes to designs and how to approach the installation.
There are four main basic types of sprinkler systems:
1/ Deluge Sprinkler Systems
These are less commonly used in most commercial buildings, because when a deluge system is activated, then all the sprinklers in a building will be activated.
This is the common “Hollywood” notion of how a sprinkler system operates. Our hero holds a lit cigarette to the sprinkler in the hall, and before you know it the whole building is deluged with water on every floor!
There are circumstances in which this kind of setup is still most appropriate. For example, unmanned or very isolated buildings might have a deluge system, because it is more important that the fire is contained, even if there is collateral water damage, when there is no-one around to immediately fight the fire.
In general though these are now used more selectively.
2/ Wet Pipe Sprinkler Systems
Here, the different heads of the system are employed with devices that can detect temperature.
Once triggered, that specific head will then pump out water through a piping system that contains water. The amount of water that is pumped out can be varied depending on the part of a building that they are protecting.
This is a more sophisticated type of system. If someone triggers the sprinkler on the 3rd floor of your building, then the 10th floor won’t automatically get deluged with water, unless there is also a detection of fire on that floor.
3/ Dry Pipe Sprinkler Systems
This acts in a very similar fashion to the wet pipe system, but with the key difference that it uses a system of nitrogen or air under pressure to ensure that the water doesn’t freeze when it is released from the heads.
This is an ideal system for example in very cold climates (ski resorts for example), or buildings that may be exposed to cold temperatures (food storage facilities for example).
4/ Pre-Action Sprinkler Systems
This is quite a complicated type of system that would be used for rooms with high value electronic equipment or other valuables where you want almost 100% certainty that the sprinklers will only kick-in in that designated area when there is a very real fire.
It is a bit like a combination of the other three systems, with checks and balances built in and highly complex heat detection systems.
A good fire sprinkler installation requires someone who understands your needs and building requirements. But your needs are going to very much depend on the specifics of your building and what use it is being put to.
Contact us today for a no obligation chat about your requirements, and let us help to safeguard your building from fire!