Fire Suppression: Sprinkler System vs Fire Extinguisher

When it comes to protecting your house from fire, you have the option between a fire suppression sprinkler and a fire extinguisher. But what are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of these two fire suppression systems?

Sprinkler System:

Pros

Automatically Activated

One very obvious advantage of having a sprinkler system is that it will work even with no one in the house. Although nobody will be in danger if a fire develops in an empty house, still it is a waste to see your property fall down to ashes. This is why having a fire suppression system that can turn itself on is great.

Notification

The newer models of sprinkler systems have an automatic notification feature. This means that in the instance of a fire, your activated sprinkler system will notify the fire station so that they can respond to the emergency. If you spend long hours at work, you will certainly appreciate the feature.

Fire Suppression

When it comes to accidents involving fires, the earlier you are able to respond to a spark the better for your home and your family’s safety. Cooking accidents are quite common but you don’t have to be enveloped in smoke the next time your casserole gets burned. A sprinkler system will extinguish fires during their early stages resulting in less smoke and less damage.

Cons

Heat Detection

One thing that you might want to consider when it comes to sprinkler systems is that they aren’t automatically triggered by smoke. Detectors in sprinkler systems detect heat rather than smoke. Consult your contractor about the fire-detecting capabilities of your sprinkler. Specifically ask how hot the room has to be before the sprinklers are activated.

Sprinkler System Activation

We normally think that if one sprinkler goes on, all the others will as well. But you need to be more specific with your contractor about that. This one-for-all mechanism only works for special deluge sprinkler systems. The general rule for most sprinkler systems is that the sprinklers in contact with the heat are the only ones that will turn on.

Fire Extinguisher:

Pros

Inexpensive

What is the use of a fire sprinkler system if you’ll be in debt afterwards? A fire extinguisher is a good enough fire suppression system for a small house or anyone who is still starting out. As long as you know how to operate one, you’ll be able to ward off a catastrophic fire from burning your house down.

Specific

With fire extinguishers, you can smother the actual flame without causing water damage to the other parts of the house. This is great if you keep getting accidents in the kitchen and you just don’t the whole place soaking wet every time you burn your toast.

Cons

Needs Skill

One thing about fire extinguishers is that you need to know how to operate one before you can put out any fire. If you aren’t familiar with how to take out the pin and squeeze, that can spell trouble for you.

Non-Automatic

Because fire extinguishers cannot detect the presence of flames, you need to search for the source of the fire and then smother it from there. Not only will that take time, but it leaves your house vulnerable when you’re not around.