Myths


Facts and Myths of Fire Sprinklers
Myth	Fact
When a fire breaks out, ALL the sprinklers go off together!	Due to how fire sprinklers operate, only the sprinkler or sprinklers nearest the fire will operate. Even including commercial premises, over 95% of fire are extinguished by four or less sprinklers. In fact over 80% of fires are extinguished by only ONE sprinkler.
Fire sprinklers cause a lot of water damage	Fire sprinklers cause LESS damage than the Fire Service because they start fighting a fire when it is quite small. A fire sprinkler typically discharges 60 litres of water per minute (LPM), the fire service hoses typically discharge 200 to 300 LPM on a larger fire!
Smoke sets them off	Fire sprinklers are actually HEAT detectors which react individually to fire. SMOKE does not affect how a sprinkler works
Sprinklers are expensive, I can't afford them.	The fact is, you will happily spend over £2000 on TV and Hi-Fi equipment which is likely to cause a fire. A Spencer-Fire, Fire Sprinkler System will protect property, possessions and save lives for over FIFTY-YEARS before replacement is needed. The cost of a sprinkler system is as little as £70 per year. Can you afford NOT to spend so little to protect your children?
I have seen sprinklers in factories and they are ugly.	Domestic fire sprinklers are very neat. They are smaller than a smoke alarm and you very rarely see any pipe work or sprinkler heads. Spencer-Fire, have fitted many systems, yet find it very hard to photograph sprinklers fitted because of how small and neat they are
Domestic fire sprinklers are untested	Fire sprinklers have been around for over one-hundred years! During the Seventies, the USA undertook a study titled "America Burning", as a result of this study, sprinkler companies developed fast acting sprinklers especially for the domestic market. Scottsdale Arizona, was the first city in the world to mandate that sprinklers should be fitted in new builds and retrofitted to hotels, apartments etc. As a result of this, there is now actual live data to demonstrate the effectiveness of sprinklers. The important points in the report are: NO FIRE DEATHS, property damage REDUCED, FEWER injuries and LESS water used for fire fighting!
They can be damaged	Domestic sprinklers are generally the concealed type. As the name suggests, they are hidden. Domestic sprinklers are housed between the floor and ceiling of the room protected and the only exposed part is the cover plate. This cover plate needs to be physically removed to allow access to the sprinkler itself.
Spencer-Fire welcomes enquiries about fire sprinklers and will do their best to answer any questions you have immediately. Please ask any questions you may have even if you think you will sound silly. Unless you ask, you will never know how fire sprinklers will benefit you and your family. To arrange a consultation, please telephone 0845 408 1694 or email: info@spencerfire.co.uk