Your Options When installing Fire Sprinkler Systems in a Commercial Building

Commercial buildings must lean towards offering acceptable levels of fire safety to the occupants. It only makes sense considering the number of people who visit commercial spaces every day. Ideally, the essence of acceptable levels of safety is to reduce the effects of heat and smoke when a fire breaks out. Systems such as fire sprinkler systems will come in handy when you want to improve the fire safety levels in your commercial building. They lower the potential of injury and death, and they buy precious time for action by rescue parties when the need arises. If you have just set up a new commercial building, here are some options for fire sprinkler systems.

• Pre-action Fire Sprinklers

Pre-action fire sprinklers are the first place you should look when you want to install a fire safety system. Your pre-action sprinklers comprise a system filled with air. Water can pass through the air-filled compartment when a smoke detector goes off. Essentially, pre-action sprinklers rely on two actuators to initiate the flow of water. The first actuator goes off when the smoke detector senses the presence of smoke. The second one, which triggers the flow of water, will only act when the initial alarm persists. The action of the two actuators prevents a pre-action sprinkler system from letting water flow when there is a false alarm by the smoke detector.

Pre-action sprinklers are ideal for situations where an actual fire occurs. They are good at controlling water damage to other sections of the building when the sprinklers spray accidentally.

• Wet Pipe Sprinkler Systems

Their name suggests that wet pipe sprinklers have a rich supply of water. That is true because this type of sprinkler always has water in its components. The constant presence of water plays to your advantage because the sprinkler responds to fire very swiftly. Surely, wet pipe sprinklers are your go-to option for buildings with a high likelihood of a fire breaking out. Buildings with many flammable products, panels or paint coatings can benefit greatly from wet pipe sprinklers.

• Dry Pipe Sprinkler Systems

If you want something similar to pre-action sprinklers, then dry pipe sprinklers are your best bet. They have pressurised air in their components. The air leaves the pipes first, followed by a generous supply of water. The sequence of these events causes a slight delay in the release of the water by about one minute. However, dry pipes sprinklers differ from pre-action sprinklers because the pressurised air makes them ideal for building sections with low temperatures. It keeps the pipes from freezing.  

For more information, contact a fire equipment retailer.

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