You can't use telephone wire to wire up you outlets anymore in Iowa.

[Mace Canute]

My 2nd beef with requiring sprinklers in houses points back to the fire community. They have taken an "all or none" approach. From what I've seen (and somewhere there is lots of data on this) a lot of fires start in the kitchen and laundry. If there is a furnace (something that burns fuel) that that's the 3rd location. Given that a sprinkler head cost about $10, I see value in putting a head in the kitchen, in the laundry, and by the furnace. That would get about half of where fires start.
Pete

There's a little voice telling me that a water sprinkler in a kitchen might be a very very bad idea depending upon what starts the fire. Mythbusters had a segment on what happens when you throw water on an oil fire and even when they started with the minuscule amount of 8 tsp of oil to 1 tsp of water, they had a large fireball as shown here. When they used 2 quarts of oil and 8 ounces of water, they got a huge fireball.

I can imagine what would happen if a pot of oil accidentally caught on fire and you were just about to put a lid on it to smother it when the sprinkler system kicked in and dumped a whole bunch of water into the oil. If you did put a head in the kitchen, I think it would be prudent to make sure it couldn't dump any water on the stove.

 

[eepete]

Mace Canute, just now saw your reply, sorry for the delay.

The sprinkler head has to reach 185 degrees before it pops. If placed correctly, that means that you would have set the area around the stove on fire, and the flames would probably be about 4-5 feet tall at the stove. So when done right, if the sprinkler triggers it would be nearly impossible to be in that area and put a lid on the pot.

The "gotcha" in a lot of stove fires is when the grease catches fire, sets the cabinets on fire, and people store their cooking oil in the cabinet above the stove. The plastic jug melts, and then the fire is fed even more.

The mythbusters segment is right on the money. But if you had a pot of oil that caught fire and put water on it, the fireball would both drive you out of area and set things on fire (and probably blow a lot of the oil out of the pot too).

So your concerns are justified, but with proper placement of the sprinkler head by the time it pops, no one would, could, or should be in the area.

Your calling it a "very very bad idea" conjured up images from the movie Ghostbusters :laughing:

Pete

 

[crazyal]

You also have to remember that dropping water onto an oil fire will create a fireball but if you keep dumping water it will put out anything set on fire. Hense the Mythbuster's part two where they dropped water from a plane on the fire and put it out.

In a perfect world you would have a fire extingusher with-in reach ready to go that is the correct type for the fire you're trying to put out. However most people either don't have them, do have them but don't know where they are, or bought them years ago and have never checked them on a regular basis to know if they are still good.

 

[Mace Canute]

The sprinkler head has to reach 185 degrees before it pops. If placed correctly, that means that you would have set the area around the stove on fire, and the flames would probably be about 4-5 feet tall at the stove. So when done right, if the sprinkler triggers it would be nearly impossible to be in that area and put a lid on the pot.
Pete

I was thinking that if the pot of burning oil was right below the sprinkler, the heat from it might trigger the sprinkler before it spread anywhere else. It's total conjecture on my part of course as to what exactly would happen, just thought I would toss the idea out there and get your thoughts on it.

In a perfect world you would have a fire extingusher with-in reach ready to go that is the correct type for the fire you're trying to put out. However most people either don't have them, do have them but don't know where they are, or bought them years ago and have never checked them on a regular basis to know if they are still good.

I have a 420 gram net weight Black and Decker 1211-1301 Halon fire extinguisher in my kitchen that looks identical to this one

except mine is white. It says to discard when the weight drops below 503g from an initial total of 545g. The site I poached the pic from says theirs has a shelf life of 12 years. The date on mine is 1988. Good thing mine isn't stored on a shelf...it's wall mounted, eh? I have to get that thing weighed I guess. It's one of those things that I have been looking at for so long, that it is invisible to me now. This thread actually reminded me to go have a look-see at it. It's kinda funny in one way, fire extinguishers are one tool that a person buys with the fervent hope they never have to use it.

 

[eepete]

This thread definitely has a width swath to it...

Mace, the sprinkler head is on the ceiling, and about 6' away from the top cabinets that are above the store. You area correct that a water sprinkler head in the exhaust hood would be "bad". I like how you extend the shelf life of your stuff :laughing:.

I have fire extinguishers under the kitchen and master bath sinks, by the door into the garage (which is sprinklered), in my work area inside, in the basement, and in my tractor garage. Still have to figure out how to mount it in the cab tractor...

Crazyal is not so crazy after all :thumbsup:. On checking your dry powered extinguishers, about once a year (spring time change for me) do two things: check the little pressure gauge, and also turn it up side down and then right side up a few times. The powder settles with time so keeping it loosed helps the performance.

Pete