Primarily, Fire sprinklers were installed only in lobby area or common area of residential societies. With increasing high-rise buildings and bigger societies, Fire sprinklers in Home Interior have become a must in every apartment, in each room -Living room, Kitchens, Bedroom.
Alike yellow pipe which is for Gas connection, you will notice a red pipe too. This red pipe carries water that operates for Fire Sprinkler installed in every home each room today.
Why are Fire Sprinklers essential in Modern Homes?
In recent times many cases have occurred where there was no fire safety or precautions easily available incase of fire. Some places didn’t have fire exit doors or stairs, nor fire extinguishers. Firemen couldn’t reach to high rise floor of huge towers. The law has therefore made it mandatory to have Fire sprinklers in Newer buildings, especially high-rise ones.
What Builders are and should providing today –
Alike yellow pipe which is for Gas connection, you will notice a red pipe too. This red pipe carries water that operates for Fire Sprinkler installed in every home each room today.
- Modern homes are built and designed with fire resistant doors for every apartment and each room.
- Fire exit planned; suitable Stairway area provided by builder.
- Fire extinguishers bottles on every floor.
The New Fire Sprinklers in Home Interior
Primarily, Fire sprinklers in home interior, its pipes and fittings were fixed from ceiling called as crown sprinklers and fittings. This crown sprinklers are more often used in commercial areas like offices, industries, etc. even today. For residential areas, due to lack of good height, fire sprinklers, its pipe and fittings are fixed to the side walls of the apartment. These are termed are vertical sprinklers.
Cities with Fire Sprinklers in Homes
As per the rule of Modern Residential Building and the ones that are coming up, vertical fire Sprinklers systems are must especially in Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. This rule will soon be observed in other metro cities like Pune, Hyderabad, and others too.
Fire Sprinkler Pipe Distribution
Alike, electric wiring and distribution, Fire Sprinkler Pipes often are installed in homes walls, that enter from main door wall. The pipe and fittings for every room go through the living room upto the passage.
From passage the fire extinguisher pipes gets distributed for every room. You therefore can sometimes observe red pipe running all over the walls on living room nearing the ceiling.
While in bedroom and kitchens, you will only find few inches pipe and the sprinkler.
Working of Fire Sprinkler System
Initially, Automatic Fire sprinklers were installed. These automatic fire sprinklers have censored that involuntary starts in-case of fire. Here a temperature is set at time of installation that detects fire and sprinklers get activated at that set temperature.
Today, Modern residential areas, have manual observes manual fire sprinkler systems. Here the sprinkler system can be controlled manually from the main box society distribution or wing distribution box. This works similar to your electrical distribution box. The fire sprinkler for each home, each floor can be controlled from this distribution box. Another advantage of having manual fire sprinklers is you can protect your electronic devices from water damage. Whereas with automatic fire sprinklers, one will have no control over sprinklers at all which can cause damage to your heavy electronic devices.
Advantages of Fire Sprinklers
- Safety – Fire is most destructive phenomena that can occur due to various reasons. The smoke hoarded due to fire leads to suffocation that can cause death too. Fire Sprinklers can reduce risk of death here. Fire sprinklers prevents fire dispersal in case of fire outbreak.
- Reduced Property Damage – Another advantage of having fire sprinklers is reduces property / structural damage. Fire razes everything in it way. It spreads rapidly with all wrong kind of material (material that can easily seize fire) around it. No equipment’s like computers, kitchen appliances or any other electrical devices can be rescues or saved. Moreover, there is structural damage too. Certainly, with Fire sprinklers, there is reduced structural damage and property damage too.
Disadvantage of Fire Sprinklers in Home Interior
Well, many assert it as disadvantage, and few assert it as drawback, but I would state it as difficulty. Difficulty that an Interior Designer meets if you have Fire Sprinklers at home.
False Ceiling Height is Reduced
The sprinklers and the red pipe for fire sprinklers are installed by builders. These are installed at such a height that false ceiling height needs to be designed 8 inches lower than standard height. Here the pipes get hidden but the sprinklers cannot be hidden. As a matter of fact, the sprinklers shall not get hidden or the purpose of having them goes for a toss.
To overcome the height alterations, few Interior Designers design a wall panel where these red pipes are installed. Only the sprinklers are visible which is fine. Wall paneling alters the room size by few inches. Sometimes all four walls of a room need wall paneling to be done to hide this red pipe. But here the cost of wall paneling increases. Here the False Ceiling height is designed at standard height which is 4 inches to 5 inches.
Our Interior Designer’s Suggestion for False Ceiling
If not entire Wall paneling, home owners can get a box designed to hide the pipes and fittings. These boxes or Wall paneling can be used hide your electrical wires and fittings. You can create an ambience by having indirect lights or spot lights installed in these boxes on wall panels too.
Alterations in Bedroom Wardrobe Design
In Bedrooms, you often will have sprinklers and pipe installed on wardrobe wall. Here, the sprinklers get hidden in overheads that can hamper the sprinkler system in bedrooms. Also, it gets hidden and purpose of having it isn’t solved.
Our Interior Designer’s Suggestion for Bedroom Wardrobe
Get heavy extension 2 feet or 2.5 feet S.S pipe installed. These extensions are easily available in market or home owners can contact the fire sprinklers company to do the needful. These pipes are flexible and so the sprinklers are pushed out of wardrobe area that can be fixed just above the wardrobe door. Here the pipe gets hidden inside the overheads and the purpose of having sprinklers is also solved. The sprinkler can also be fixed on wall depending on room design, and suitability (if not on wardrobe wall).
The only drawback here is that home owners cannot store anything in those 8-inch space in overhead where the fire sprinkler pipe is fixed.
Fire Sprinklers in Kitchen
Distinct to other room, where you can see few inches pipes and then fire sprinkler installed, Kitchen do not have pipe installed. Only a round sprinkler fitted at directly on the walls. This fire sprinkler is often fixed above kitchen entrance door and sometimes above window wall. Therefore, unlike Bedroom wardrobes, where 8-inches space gets wasted in overheads due to fire sprinklers pipe and fittings, there is not wastage of space observed here. Every inch of kitchen overhead space can be used.
Water Usage & Electricity Consumption
Fire Sprinkler pipes carry water from main Water storage tank of the society. The water is consumed only when the sprinkler gets used.
Water Pressure
Water Pressure for sprinklers is set at time of installation. Imagine for each wing (for multiple wing society), every floor, each apartment, how many controls can be provided. The pipe for fire sprinkler at start is 3-inchto4-icnh in diameter which gradually reduces to 3/4th inch to ½ inch diameter. The water pressure therefore automatically gets controlled there.
Electricity consumption
Since Automatic Fire Sprinklers that have censors and are programmed at set temperatures, consume small amount of electricity while its working. While the manual fire sprinklers system operates only when switched on, so there is no usage of electricity here.
Fire Sprinklers are not Smoke Detectors
Smoke detectors play important role of alerting during danger. Fire Sprinklers does not detect smoke. For fire sprinklers, the heat source or temperature set it really high, say 75 degree and above, that it cannot detect smoke.
Maintenance of Fire Sprinkler System
Annual Maintenance of Fire Sprinklers system is looked by at society level which is not much. Having a durable, long lasting system and fittings material that is non-corrosive will surely be an expensive affair at first, but it can ease long term maintenance cost in future.
Check fire Sprinklers before buying New Homes
Fire sprinkler pipe are fixed to the wall with help of nut-bolt. See to it that these fixtures are fixed appropriate intervals and are aligned at one level. If not, get it rectified by builders beforehand. These can easily be aligned but screwing it tight in its place.
Free Consultation with Interior Designer
Contractorbhai team has designed 1000s of homes across India. We have designed many homes in Tall high rise and provide best Interior design solution to our client’s requirements. Talk to us today to schedule free consultation with our Interior Designer. call on 9920620009.
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