Fire Suppression Systems in Single Family Dwellings

Having had my house burn down 6 years ago, (it burned for several hours INSIDE the walls before blowing out into my living room) I don't think fire suppression in residential houses should be forced. However, I do see the need for supression systems in appartments complexes and Zero lot line type situations where multiple families and propety owners may be affected.

Was the ignition source a faulty electrical connection in a box, a damaged conductor, or something else?

The house was 110 years old. The first stud in the wall directly behind the open hearth fireplace started smoldering and caught the insulation on fire. The smoke from the initial fire in the wall was exiting the wall of the house at the point where the chimney exited the house so the fire was undetectable from inside.

i understand that AFCI breakers have become mandatory at least in some parts of USA? If so, is it not a good step towards eliminating electrical fires? i would have thought that it is a worthwhile expense, would have used in my house if such things were available here. i understand even in Europe AFCI is not common.

Here is some further information on AFCIs (arc fault circuit interrupters). I haven't been involved lately with new construction, so I was unaware that these devices were available as plug-in replacements for normal residential CBs. This is excellent information.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/afci.html

One of the last houses done by the electrical contractor who did my house before he retired was my house. He sold the company to an employee, he had bought the company from his father-in-law. All these do is residential - no commercial or industrial work. They are very successfull and I thought everything they did was done very well. His crew installed arc fault protection in the bedrooms of my house- the minimum required by law. He said that in over all the companies experience, they had seen only two incidents that could be blamed on arc faults.

And arc fault breakers are very expensive.

The public gets fleeced again, in my opinion.

IMHO, probably worth in in the long run, even for single family homes. Don't forget the savings over the lifetime of the house because of reduced home insurance premiums.

Also, dwellings with fire suppression systems demand a higher selling cost over non-equipped dwelling when it comes the time to sell the house. Ask any Realtor the realities of this issue.

Then, there's the ultimate reality check: if the system saves just one life of a family member, then it was worth the initial investment!

Just adding my 2 cents for what it's worth!

This is not the first time that I have heard that insurance premiums were HIGHER in a house WITH an installed fire suppression system than one without a system.

Can you imagine the mess a broken head, a leak, or a false release would make? The drywall in that room and all of the rooms below would be ruined, the floors ruined (really bad news if they are hardwood), and all the furniture damaged.

Of course, you will need to service this system. Bringing a guy out to the house will have to cost at least $300. for each visit, more if actually DOES something!

All this when I have not only NEVER lived in a NEIGHBORHOOD that had a serious house fire (I am sixty years old), I know that most of the time when you hear fire engines going on a call they are going to health emergencies or false alarms - thank God for the latter.

I asked a Fire-fighter about fire suppression systems in single family homes: He didn't say they were a crazy idea, but my impression was that he was not very enthusiastic about them either.

There are different type of fire suppression systems available. In this area (new York State), if I had a PROFESSIONALY DESIGNED & INSTALLED (and inspected)wet/dry or a Halon system installed my house the fire insurance premium would be halved, not increased. I've checked this with my own insurance carrier plus 3 other insurance carriers. just for verification purposes. I'm still going ahead with the installation this fall when our LICENSED plumber/electrician has a time slot available. He'll be following the Contract Documents prepared by a long time ME friend of mine who is a Licensed and Register LPE in this state......he knows what he's doing in regards to design of these systems.

You must have had a chemical system quoted?????

If the system had been designed and installed properly, it would have operated the correct way.......that is, sounding first and signaling, followed by operating secondly.

I went back and checked the letter sent from my insurance company, they said, Even a properly installed house hold fire suppression unit has a greater chance of accidental release than an actual fire. Because of the size and type of house I was building and the cost of damage from approved systems for my area, there would be no monetary benefit from installing said system.

I was building a Steel framed house. The lack of possible structural damage to the building from fire, flood, earthquake and other natural disasters already lowered my homeowners insurance to a point that I would not benefit from the system.

Halon?

Licensed and registered PE?

Money must be no object.

Of course loosing a family member is has not price tag, but most of America - myself included - will not follow this line of thought.

Hi Coldspot,

I'm a Licensed and Registered PE (Civil), and as I had stated previously, my friend is also, but he's a ME. I recently did work for him Pro Bono and he just recipicated with the design of the fire supression system.

"Money is no object" LOL yes it is, but my family and I are quite loaded...LOL

Maybe here?

http://www.tycosafetyproducts-europe.com/English/Products/extinguishing.asp

Just another way of looking at it. Hope it helps, Ky.

I'd like to see the risk assessment that went into the standard development. As part of the promulgation process for standards such as OSHA or EPA standards, risk assessment information needs to be presented and published in the Federal Register. That seems to be lacking in the process used by the NFPA. In fact, most of the process for standards promulgation that apply to the afformentioned standards is absent from the NFPA Standard setting process. Or, they are at least less transparent and there is no real opportunity for interested parties to comment.

Cost justified? Does anyone out there know of premium discounts offered by property insurers for these systems in single family dwellings? Similar to those for heat/smoke detectors connected to central alarm monitoring systems? Perhaps I just haven't heard of them. If that's the case I applogize but, absent those substaintial discounts I'd say that the property insurers aren't convinced either.

What I think I see serving on advisory boards is more often sales and marketing people than design-build and maintenance people. This makes the system biased. Politicians tend to be knee-jerk reactive, always pretending to be doing something valuable. We need people with hands-on experience serving on boards and panels.

I looked into the make-up of the NFPA's panel that has been working on getting the requirement for fire suppression apparatus code for new construction a few years ago. Yep, more than fairly represented by the industries that stand to gain the most, and marginally represented by the public at large.

Risk assessments would be a step in the right direction. It seems the insurers would have the expertise to promulgate wise regulations.

i am not familiar with the conditions in USA, but have been something of an admirer of UL standards specific to the LV switchgear industry. i have an impression that this is one set of standards that are created by insurance people who have a vested interest to ensure high standards of safety, so the standards are more user-oriented than many other standards in the world which are created mainly by manufacturers. i must confess that my knowledge of US standards for LV switchgear is negligible. So i would welcome some views on whether i am wrong to think US standards are good