Thinking of building a home in the area where I live currently.
Jurisdiction has recently passed a requirement that all homes be sprinklered.
I don’t know ANYTHING about residential sprinkler systems. Cost, installation, maintenace, NOTHING.
Any house I build would be on a well since it would not be in an area served by public water and sewer. How does one pump enough water to serve the flow rates of a sprinkler system? I assume some sort of storage would be needed. Or do these systems use a foam or fogging type arrangement?
Does anyone in Breaktime land know anything about residential fire suppression systems?
Edited 9/20/2009 9:09 am ET by frontiercc2
Replies
I'm curious too but have not much to offer. From what I've heard is that only the affected head(s) will trigger at the fire area. If you're well can supply enough to drive a yard sprinkler, it ought to be able to provide for the res firext sys. that is until the power is cut. that should be long enough to evac the occupants.
The residential sprinkler systems I've read about use low-pressure, low-flow heads and plastic piping. They are installed connected directly (more or less) to the domestic cold water system, and should work OK on a well so long as the pump doesn't fail.
The trick, from what I gather, is how to handle "stagnant" water in the things, since the system IS connected to the domestic cold water system. There are several different approaches to this problem.
Should be lots you can find via Google, once you figure out the right search terms.
most (all that i have seen) for homes are on a 1" fire rated pex or pvc loop, you feed all the normal fixtures off that same "loop" as it acts as a manifold for the whole house... so the water in the system is never stagnant... very simple system and the heads are low pressurep
Oct/Nov 09 issue of FH has an article on residential sprinkler systems.
The business about homes on well water supply is covered. There may have to be a separate booster pump and tank to supply 20-26 gpm for 10 minutes.Back in April, there was a long thread on JLCOnline on the subject, with a lot of back and forth on the politics of getting the requirement pushed into the IRC and on the pros of protection vs. cost of installation and insurance coverage in the event of non-fire release of water. The heated discussion seems undampened by arguments either way (I couldn't resist saying that).
The FHB article said the IRC has inluded them in the code for 09 or 10 code, but the NAHB is fighting adoption in most of the 48 state that use the IRC.
What the article didn't cover was insurance issues.
If they add 1.5% to the total cost of the house as the article indicates and there is no pay back in terms of reduced HO insurance I can see how the NAHB canwin or at least delay the adoption of that part of the code.
Like I said, there are several schemes to deal with this issue. The technology is still evolving.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
A couple of general comments:
First, sprinkler systems are zealously guarded by the sprinkler companies, and to install one usually requires that you hire a specially licensed contractor (not just any plumber), and that they do the 'engineering' on the job.
The 'good news' is that the 'sprinkler code' has been supplimented by a separate code that is specific to single-family homes, and that simplifies the requirements (meaning 'expense') quite a bit.
Since you are on a well, though, it is still likely that you will need a reservoir / tank to draw from, and that this will need to be freeze-protected.
Water pressure needs to be higher to feed the sprinklers.... means you might need a pressure reducing valve on the domestic side... properly anchored piping to prevent noise in the walls... and I would stay away from those flexible vinyl lines.
Plastic CPVC pipe is used, an orange/red color.
Only the affected sprinkler head pops... but an adjacent one may open due to pipe/water movement.
A backflow valve is needed to isolate sprinkler water from domestic. Annual inspection and testing by a licensed plumber may be required.
Might be able to do a dry system (no standing water in the piping).
I think there are constant flow systems where the cold water moves through the sprinkler system, preventing stagnant water.
Last I heard, several years ago, figure on around $2 per square foot installed.... but don't quote me on that.
Best place to get specific requirement would be your local building department.
You might want to pay attention to any spwcific requirements pertaining to well systems. Separate storage tank? How big (X number of heads at X GPM for X number of minutes)? Backup pump? Air charged holding tank? And so on.
Edited 9/20/2009 9:58 am ET by danski0224
Check with Wirsbo/Upnor. They have simplified thier resi fire sprinkler system.