Home Ignition 101: Exterior Sprinklers

[@paulmaxwell8851]

A few pointers of my own: make sure the water supply runs through a large filter. Debris can block the jets in sprinkler heads. Never use plastic (PVC, PE, CPVC, Pex etc.) on the building exterior as it's just not durable enough. Use copper or steel. Make sure your back-up generator or water pump is itself protected by a sprinkler. If it catches fire due to the firebrand blizzard your entire system and building may be destroyed. Buy very good-quality sprinkler heads: brass, bronze and/or stainless steel. Never plastic. Test run your system frequently. And finally, make sure your sprinkler system will protect the entire building; it may be impossible to stand outside with a garden hose when the fire arrives.

[@toddjasper1]

Are there any commercial off the shelf thermal sensors for detecting exterior flames/embers?

[@FIRESafeMARIN]

@toddjasper1 not that we are aware of

[@Flash1857]

Suggestion, use something like sprinkler heads on a dry pipe system. Spread out over a distance from the house, then a water flow alarm to trigger the main system. Or thermocouple hooked to a computer or something to trigger the system. Or melting metal devices that melt when heated, to trigger the main water flow to sprinkler. Must have multiple redundancies

[@toddjasper1]

@@Flash1857very clever ideas! I wish there was something commercially available that don’t require so much “hacking” but thank you very much, I hadn’t thought of those! I was thinking about using an IR camera as a sensor to detect embers since I think by the time temp jumps are happening, it might be too late

[@fabiansandoval6132]

Yes there are! Platypus Systems from Australia has them.