Fire Prevention that Works

As a plumbing contractor, you might think sprinkler systems are out of your reach for installations, but new technology and recent rule changes have opened the door for residential applications.

Smoke detectors work well, if the battery is changed yearly and fire extinguishers can help stop a fire if they can be located in time. "More often than not when we're investigating a fire scene, we'll find fire extinguishers were buried under stored items and long forgotten," says Barry Myers, fire chief from Yoe, Pa. "But fire sprinklers remain on duty 24/7/365."

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there were: 401,000 residential fires and more than $6 billion in residential fire damages in 2002. "The installation of residential fire sprinkler systems could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars in property losses," according to the United States Fire Administration, an arm of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

Right at Home
Residential fire sprinkler systems utilize smaller sprinkler heads than their commercial cousins, can be retrofit into existing homes or incorporated into new construction and because of the lower flow requirements, they can be tied into the home's existing water service without the need for a separate dedicated fire line. Plastic or PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) piping can be utilized for quick installations. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the installed pricing for new construction averages $1 to $1.50 per square foot. Another advantage for homeowners is the 5 percent to 15 percent discount they'll likely see on their homeowner's insurance.

While commercial fire sprinkler system designs are based on NFPA Section 13, the demand for residential applications led to section 13D, which governs residential designs. Residential sprinkler heads flow 13 to 24 gallons per minute, but only the heads required to douse a fire will be activated, which is why most residential municipal water systems can accommodate the necessary requirements. Residential sprinkler heads are extremely reliable with virtually no possibility for accidental discharge.

"Water damage from sprinkler activation is far less than what we see from having pumped thousands of gallons of water into a residence from a hydrant or pumper-truck," Myers says.

If the local water system can't supply the required minimum flow, NFPA 13D requires a storage tank be installed that can supply the sprinkler system for 10-minutes (minimum) with a booster pump to deliver adequate pressure—something plumbers already are familiar doing for low pressure booster-pump installations.

Learn the Ropes
The key to entering into the residential fire protection sprinkler system marketplace is training. Uponor Wirsbo manufactures Aquasafe, which is a NFPA approved sprinkler system for residential applications. The Apple Valley, Minn.-based company offers a certified training for the Aquasafe system, which must be passed prior to being authorized to install the product line. The Aquasafe product offers a multi-purpose combined potable water and fire protection system that meets NFPA standards.

One of the many advantages of a residential sprinkler system is its ability to react quickly to fires and a reduction of water damage, when compared to homes where fires are doused by fire-hoses that dispense hundreds of gallons in just a few minutes.

Sprinkler heads effectively target the fire-zone with a minimal amount of water. "The plumbing system and the fire sprinkler system are combined into one low-cost, multi-purpose water supply system," says Tim Doran, technical services manager for Wirsbo. "We've been training plumbing contractors for many years on proper use of PEX tubing for hydronic and potable water systems, so it was a natural fit to expand our training and certification to meet NFPA criteria for designing residential fire protection sprinkler systems. It seemed obvious, to us, that plumbing contractors are ideally suited to grow their business and bottom lines by adding this extension of service for their residential customers."