An automatic fire sprinkler system is the only guaranteed way to provide total fire protection in your facility. The fire sprinkler is the last line of defense in preventing fires from spreading, and hopefully stopping them entirely. When choosing your fire protection system, it is important to choose the right fire sprinkler system, that addresses the needs of your specific facility. Below are the 6 most common types of sprinklers on the market:

1. Wet Pipe Sprinklers – The most common type of fire sprinkler system. A wet pipe system is easy to maintain and install. Wet pipe systems are filled with water with specific sprinkler head spacing. Each sprinkler head acts as its own heat detector. During a fire, the heat causes the core of the sprinkler head to burst discharging water. Not all the sprinkler heads are activated at once since each head is its own detector. The head will only burst when exposed to heat or broken off by physical contact. The advantage of this independence is that it can help to significantly reduce damage in the event of a false alarm since water will only be released from one head. It is not a surprise this type of system is still the most common application in the industry to this day.

2. Dry Pipe Systems – A dry pipe sprinkler system is much like a wet pipe system except that the water is not contained within the pipes. Instead of water, the pipes in a dry system are pressurized by air or nitrogen. Water is still used to suppress a fire in these systems but is held back by a valve until the system is activated. A dry pipe system is a perfect application in environments that experience extreme cold where a wet pipe system would be subject to pipe freezing and impairments to the fire protection.

3. Pre-action Sprinkler Systems – A pre-action system is a dry pipe system where the water is held back by an electronically controlled valve that is connected to a fire detection system. Only after the fire detection system is activated will water enter the systems pipes and each sprinkler head is activated individually. A pre-action system is great for applications where accidental discharge of sprinklers would cause extensive damage like data centers and libraries.

4. Deluge Systems – A deluge sprinkler system is specifically designed for high-hazard areas in a building. In this system design, the pipes are dry and unpressurized, sprinkler heads are open, connection to a water source directly, and water is held back by a valve. When the system detects a fire, water is pumped through the systems pipes and is discharged through all the open heads flooding the affected area.

5. In-Rack Sprinklers – In-rack fire sprinklers are used in warehouse racking systems to contain fires to small areas and prevent the entire racking area from being ruined by a fire. These sprinklers are designed and located in close proximity to racking areas often installed in the middle of each aisle with heads on every level of the rack.

6. ESFR – Early Suppression Fast Response systems are another fantastic application for warehouses. An ESFR systems heads are designed to emit a higher concentration of larger droplets of water. ESFR systems are high volume, high velocity systems and can be located in the ceiling to protect storage areas in place of in-rack sprinklers.

Fire Protection with ECS Technical Services
ECS Technical Services provides emergency fire protection service to help resolve unexpected issues with your fire protection systems. Whether an alarm is set off accidentally, a pipe freezes, or someone takes out a sprinkler head ECS Technical Services is ready to assist your facility. Give us a call and we will send one of our partners to your location as quickly as possible. We have an emergency response team that is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to help protect lives, property and assets.

If you have any questions about fire alarm or fire protection installations, or want to know more on how to maintain these systems, contact us to see how we can help.