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1. I have smoke alarms installed in my home; why do I need fire sprinklers?

Smoke alarms are essential in every home. But they can only detect a fire. Fire sprinklers detect the fire and automatically control it, saving lives and property.

2. Why can't I just rely on the fire department to extinguish a fire in my home?

In the 9-12 minutes a fire department needs to respond, an uncontrolled fire will grow and spread throughout the home, causing tremendous smoke and fire damage.

3. If one sprinkler head goes off, won’t they all go off?

Sprinklers activate independently; only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate. Ninety percent (90%) of fires are extinguished by one sprinkler head.

4. Isn’t water damage from sprinklers worse than fire damage?

A sprinkler head flows 10-26 gallons of water per minute. The property loss in a sprinklered home fire is a small fraction of the typical loss in an unsprinklered home fire. In Scottsdale Arizona, where sprinklers have been required in all new homes for over 20 years, the average property fire loss was over $45,000 for single family homes without fire sprinklers compared to under $2,200 when sprinklers were present. In addition, residential fire sprinklers use up to 15 times less water than the fire department uses to extinguish a house fire.

5. Won’t fire sprinkler systems freeze in the winter?

The national installation standard provides guidance for proper installation in cold regions and appropriate additional insulation and anti-freeze usage.

6. What will it cost me to install a fire sprinkler system in my home?

The typical cost for a 13D fire sprinkler system in this area of the state is approximately $2.50 per square foot. In a typical modern 3000 square foot home, that would be about $7,500; which is less than the cost to remodel kitchen or bathroom.