5 interesting facts about fire sprinkler systems

The number of fire mishaps is increasing at a rapid rate in both residential and commercial properties every day. Therefore, it is crucial to have a well-maintained fire protection system in our buildings. Besides fire extinguishers, a fire sprinkler system is another important component of a fire protection system. A fire sprinkler system helps in detecting a potential fire mishap and often puts out the fire before it spreads. 

Even though it is an important part of the fire protection system, many people still are don’t know a lot about them. Thus, in this blog, we are discussing some of the interesting facts about fire sprinklers that you probably didn’t know. 

1. Fire sprinkler heads are designed to sprinkle water when they detect fire temperatures exceeding 155°. In residential properties, only one sprinkler head is enough to control fires. More than 90 percent of fires can be put out with less than 6 sprinkler heads. According to a study conducted, it was found that 82 percent of fire mishaps during 80 years of automatic sprinkler were handled with the help of less than three sprinkler heads. 
2. Smoke detectors are activated when they detect smoke or fire incident and provide an early warning to help save lives. However, they are not designed to control fire breakouts in your premises. Often times, battery-operated smoke detectors fail to give any warning beforehand due to dead or faulty batteries. Therefore, it is always recommended to have a well-maintained fire sprinkler system in place to avoid such situations. 
3. Fire sprinklers are designed to offer a high level of safety against fire breakouts. According to statistics, it has been found that the loss of lives has been significantly low in a building that has fire sprinkler installation. The installation of early warning systems with an automatic sprinkler system in a building can reduce the overall damage by at least 50 percent. 
4. Fire sprinkler systems are highly effective as they get activated quickly in a fire. They not only help save lives and property damage but also can also reduce homeowner insurance premiums. 
5. Fire sprinklers installed in residential places can control a fire in relatively less time than a fire department would take to reach the site. 
6. Many people believe that fire sprinklers can release water by accident and cause water damage. However, it is seldom occurrence. These systems are only activated when they detect extreme smoke or out of control fire. 

Please remember, 

When it comes to fire sprinkler systems, it is important to keep them in working condition to ensure that they don’t fail to perform when required. For fire sprinkler maintenance services, you can hire a professional service provider who can provide monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance services. 

Fire sprinkler maintenance: Things to know about requirements

Every facility or building in New York is mandated to have a well-planned fire protection system. A fire sprinkler is one of the most important parts of the fire suppression system. It acts as the first line of defense in the event of a fire. Since fire sprinkler is an integral part of our fire safety plan, it should be regularly maintained or inspected.

Now, you must be wondering when it is the right time to consider fire sprinkler system services such as maintenance or inspection. Although today, most of the companies who do fire suppression systems installation also perform regular maintenance and inspection of those systems. These companies usually keep their customers updated when it comes a fire sprinkler maintenance, testing, and inspection. However, it is also important for property owners or business managers to know how often they should get their sprinkler systems maintained or inspected.

Below, we have explained how often you should get your fire sprinkler system inspected or tested.

Fire sprinkler systems are comprised of various different parts, which include gauges, switches, and pipes. And each part needs regular maintenance and inspection to make sure they work well in the event of a fire outbreak.

Read further to know how often should each part of the fire sprinkler gets inspected or maintained.

Monthly - Since the gauges play an integral role in any fire sprinkler system, they should be inspected in pre-action, dry and deluge systems. This needs to be done at least once a week to make sure they remain at their best working conditions. In case of wet pipe gauges, they can go a month without any inspection or maintenance.

Every three months - You need to hire professionals to carry out more extensive inspections once every three months. This type of inspection is usually performed on valve alarm devices, water flow alarm devices, signal devices, control valves, fire department connections, and hydraulic nameplates.

Yearly - Yearly inspections are carried out at the hangar/seismic bracing, pipework and fitting, and the sprinklers.

Every five years - It is advisable to inspect all internal pipework of your fire sprinkler system. This is usually done to check for blockages, and fix it whenever required.

Fire sprinkler system plays a crucial role in any fire safety plan. This is why it should be regularly maintained and inspected to make sure it is fit for the purpose.

4 perfect fire detection systems for commercial properties

Each property whether residential or commercial requires fire protection system. There are variety of fire suppression systems such as fire extinguishers fire sprinkler system and more. However, before the fire can be taken care of it needs to be detected. It is when the fire is detected they can be prevented through the fire sprinkler systems. 

  

Two basic components of a fire are the heat and smoke. These two are also the reasons why fire is so dangerous. It is through these two elements that the fire is actually detected. Here are the ways to detect the fire in the commercial places and ensure the safety of the occupants:

Ionization

One fire detection system that focuses on the smoke elements is the ionization system. The presence of the fire is detected by these systems through the smoke. The ionization fire detectors have two metal plates in them that have electrical current running through them . In case of fire, when smoke reaches the chamber, the electrical current gets cuts off and alarm blares turning on the fire sprinkler systems. These systems are perfect for the places such as commercial kitchens where fires can quickly spread.

Photoelectric

The Photoelectric fire detector systems are similar to ionization detection system as they also detect the fire through smoke. However, the major difference between the two systems is of the way how they detect the fire. The Photoelectric fire detector systems uses light. When the smoke enters the room, it disrupts the beams of light that the detectors project. This leads to alarm blaring and fire sprinkler systems turning on. The benefits of these systems is that it has ability to detect small fires and are rarely trigger the false alarm.

Heat

To detect the fire through heat is tough and extremely hazardous. The heat based fire detectors are less sensitive than the other detection systems and are most preferred in commercial buildings as they rarely trigger false alarm. The system with all its benefits also has drawbacks in the area where there is humidity, dust or huge amount of steam. Warehouses and storage facilities are right places for these detection system. 

Do you want to install the latest and high-tech fire detection system in your commercial building? Want to know more about the latest fire sprinkler systems? Contact FireServ. They are the leading fire protection safety services in the state of New York since 1999.

 

Fire extinguishers: Importance of recharging and maintenance

Being a business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that your commercial property is always ready to handle a fire emergency. One of the most important things is maintenance and recharging your fire extinguishers. If your fire extinguishers are poorly maintained and charged, they will fail to provide enough protection to your business during a fire break-out. To fire extinguisher malfunction, recharge them annually and soon after the use. You need to call a fire extinguisher service provider for yearly fire extinguisher inspection to check for any damage and refilling the fire suppression agent. 

 

When to recharge fire extinguishers?

The following are some of the common scenarios that you need to consider recharging your fire extinguishers.

• Accidental discharge - In some cases, fire extinguishers are accidentally released. Even a few milliseconds loss of a fire suppression agent can potentially affect the proper functioning of the extinguisher. You should immediately refill your extinguisher, as soon as you notice discharge either accidentally or due to design.

• Recent use of fire extinguisher in a small fire - If you or any of your employees have recently released a fire extinguisher agent to curb a small fire, you should get your extinguisher refilled as soon as possible.

• Recent fire extinguisher inspection -Often technicians may discharge a small amount of fire suppression agent during routine inspections to ensure the proper operation of a fire extinguisher.

How to refill a fire extinguisher? 

In some cases, fire extinguishers are refilled with fire suppression agent, while others require complete draining before recharging. 

 

Importance of fire extinguisher recharge

Below are some of the reasons why fire extinguisher recharge is important.

To maintain proper pressure - As per the fire equipment standards, an ideal extinguisher should read a pressure rating of 100 to 175 PSI to work efficiently at an event of a fire.

To clean the mechanism - A well-trained fire safety technician from fire protection service provider will clean the nozzle and the canister to ensure the fire suppression agent is distributed properly.

To refill the retardant - If you have recently used your fire protection system to put-off a small fire, you’ll need to immediately recharge the retardant.

Save your money - Unlike other fire protection systems, a fire extinguisher does not require yearly replacement it just needs a little maintenance. Hence, this will save you a lot of money in the long run that you would spend on replacing the fire protection system.

For residential and commercial fire safety needs, contact fireserv They are the leading fire protection service provider in New York.

Why Should You Opt For Fire Sprinklers

For more than 100 years, sprinkler have been saving people from fire. It is one of first fire protection systems that are installed when residential and commercial buildings are built. While nowadays, it is not mandatory for the existing homes to have the fire sprinkler systems installed. All over the country the fire safety companies advise the homeowners to install the sprinkler system to stay safe. 

With numerous other fire safety equipment, it is often asked by the homeowners, why should they give preference to the sprinkler system? Here are the reasons why:

Saves lives

According a study by NFPA, installing fire sprinkler system increases your life expectancy by 80%. In residential building, the sprinkler system are extremely effective as they activate as soon as fire originates. This means that the sprinkler system will diffuse the fire from its origin.

The lethal feature of the fire is the smoke. The smoke is filled with the toxic fumes that can impede the vision, fill your lungs with soot and fill your home with poisonous fire. Sprinkler system reduces the smoke production and keeps toxic fumes to the survivable level.

Along with it, it extinguishes the untamed fires and makes it easy to breathe. The occupants get the time to safely get out of the house.

Protection of property

Sprinkler ensures that the your property remains safe. A residential fire sprinkler will keep the fire at the minimum lessening the damage. The homeowners across the country believe that the sprinkler system will soak all the belongings and their homes, even in case of small kitchen fires. This is  not the case. This is a myth which has made the homeowners wary of the fire sprinkler system.

The sprinkler system uses minimum amount of water in the bursts of sprays. The quantity of water used is 8-24 gallons of water per minute. This is a small amount in comparison with the amount of water that the fire brigades spray: 50 – 125 gallons per minute.The damage of water through water rarely happens and is often due to the bursting or freezing of pipes.

Before you go in and search for the fire sprinkler service near me, just visit Fire Serv. We are the leading fire safety equipment company from last 18 years in the state of New York.