Our goal is for one person to decide to install a fire sprinkler system in their project. If that's you, please tell us! Comment or email: contact@masondixonacres.com To make planning your install easier, here's the free resource we put together: www.masondixonacres.com/products/fire-sprinkler-diagram-materials-list
You got me! We're in the early planning stages of a detached shop we're building on our property, and I'll definitely be putting one of these systems in. Keep up the great videos!
Did they figure out why those 3 houses caught fire? I'd address the root cause issues, which may not be solved by an interior sprinkler system. I believe the great majority of house fires start in the kitchen, which is why my new house build list includes a fire suppression system in the range hood.
Suggest flushing that tank using the pump and that hose bib to prevent clogging any sprinklers since you don't have a strainer in the piping. Also, check the pump curve for npsh required since your suction elevation is above the bottom of the tank you will not get full capacity of that tank because a centrifugal pump usually needs positive suction. From a fellow engineer. I deal with industrial pumping systems daily. You may not need to comply or you already checked but NFPA 13D appears to be the right reference for small residential sprinkler systems. Free access to view the standard on nfpa online. Nice video and setup.
I work for a FA contractor in NC. I wire up all the tampers, pressure switches, and waterflows on Sprinklers etc. We only do Commercial, Industrial and Educational, so i dont know Resi Code, but I strongly, strongly suggest putting in at a minimum a WaterFlow switch. It will have 2 sets of NO contacts, 1 to trip a Alarm Panel and 1 to trip whatever you want. We by Code have it trip a outside bell so if Fire Trucks pull up and they hear a bell, they know water is flowing. At a minimum have the waterflow trip a Alarm System. This way if your out shopping or on Vacation and there is a fire the Alarm will go off and you will be called from your monitoring Center. Also if a pipe Burts or freezes and water flows you will know. Looks great though. That's just my 2 cents. You've worked so hard on it, it's worth to protect the investment. Also you can monitor your valves if they are in off positions to send a signal to the Alarm Panel, this way if your valves are in off position bc if work or maintenance and your forget to turn them back on you will know. Hit me up if you have any questions Tamper is part #Potter RBVS Flow would be Potter VSR-S
Appreciate all that insight! Definitely a good idea, we will use a smoke detector listener to alert us if the alarms go off while away but no way to know if sprinkler water was flowing from a leak or some other reason without the flow switch.
I am quite interested in residential sprinkler systems. I have a few comments on your installation. 1. You said you filled your piping system. Unless you had a place to bleed the air out, your pipes still full of air just under pressure. When you system goes off the first thing the fire will get is a large blast of air. 2. I would have put a float valve in your tank with a pipe the same size as your main well pipe. Then it could be filling while your pump is fighting the fire. Giving you more water than the tanks 300 gallons. Maybe after 300 gallons you want the water to stop. 300 gallons might be enough to put out the fire or maybe enough to put out 95% of the fire. 3. Your water tank is going to grow algae like crazy. Maybe even plugging your pump. When a commercial sprinkler goes off the water looks like used motor oil. 4. Your fill set up needs a back flow preventer. If you’re filling your tank the has lots of disgusting water in it, and you lose water pressure, loss of electricity, it can syphon the water back into your house water system. That would contaminate the house plumbing as well as your well. Not trying to criticize all your hard work and time it took to create this content. Just sharing some of my thoughts.
About a year back I’m planning on installing a fire sprinkler system at my dad’s new house, once the additions and renovations come, I’ll have a fire sprinkler system.
13:15 - Hey if it's a 240v circuit for the 12/2 romex on the pump and you're using a white conductor as a hot, make sure to wrap those in black electrical tape near the ends. Usually a code requirement and just lets the next dude know they're dealing with a hot and not a neutral. Good work!
Would be interested to see a flow switch tied to a notifier, so you know if a sprinkler has been activated! The right way is with a fire monitoring system, though you could probably do it yourself with home assistant!
True, the current plan is a smart listener for the wired smoke alarms. Unfortunately we couldn't find "smart" wired alarms that also had the capability to send a push notification, but there are smart listeners. That still is limited to just smoke, not the actual sprinklers flowing. When we expand the sprinkler system to cover the future addition I'll probably add a monitoring component
You have helped me with my rainwater outdoor sprinkler system, 6:00 I was not aware they made a low pressure switch to turn off the pump should my rainwater catch tank run dry. Can borrow most of those same concepts for remote water system except I will need the pressure tank you mentioned to extend the life of the pump.
Look at that! I did not know about the low pressure cut off switches either until I was browsing Supply House and saw it right next to the normal versions. For low-flow wells I feel like it would also be a no-brainer to keep the pump from running dry.
Maybe, but it wouldn't be a near term thing. A bladder tank will probably be the first backup, since it doesn't need power and is good for ~10-20 gallons of pressure that would likely handle whatever might set a sprinkler off
let me just start off by saying I know nothing about nothing but, I feel like that check valve is not going to hold pressure and the pump is going to cycle on and off often to keep pressure. maybe you could put a buffer pressure tank to increase the time in-between the pump cycling. I think normal fire systems pressurizes the tank and whole system with a nitrogen cylinder but they have steel water tanks that can hold that pressure. but I hope I'm wrong and your setup works well!
Doesn't really help, until the insides catch on fire and by that time, the structure is compromised and it's probably too late to save it. If the fire threat is external, like in SOCAL, then you really need to build out of less combustible materials and have an external fire suppression system, like sprinklers, water cannons, etc.
Genuine question, if this is relatively affordable, and it very much looks like it with regard to percent of cost of a new build, why isn't it building code? It would seem you shouldn't have to convince anyone. In. my area, fire detectors must be hard wired, I don't understand why they wouldn't take the next step. Personally it is great to not lose the house, or have less damage, but in my own opinion this should be critical with regard to saving lives.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Our goal is for one person to decide to install a fire sprinkler system in their project. If that's you, please tell us! Comment or email: contact@masondixonacres.com
To make planning your install easier, here's the free resource we put together: www.masondixonacres.com/products/fire-sprinkler-diagram-materials-list
You got me! We're in the early planning stages of a detached shop we're building on our property, and I'll definitely be putting one of these systems in. Keep up the great videos!
Yesss at least one!!! Haha much appreciated, thanks for following along!
Super helpful, just downloaded and bought another plan as a thank you. 🇬🇧
Awesome thank you so much!!
Did they figure out why those 3 houses caught fire? I'd address the root cause issues, which may not be solved by an interior sprinkler system. I believe the great majority of house fires start in the kitchen, which is why my new house build list includes a fire suppression system in the range hood.
Piping and brackets look like they would survive a MIL-S-901D test...so satisfying
hahah sadly I actually know too much on that standard from my past DoD contracting life 😆
Very nice system and your install was outstanding!
Very much appreciated 🙏🏻
Suggest flushing that tank using the pump and that hose bib to prevent clogging any sprinklers since you don't have a strainer in the piping. Also, check the pump curve for npsh required since your suction elevation is above the bottom of the tank you will not get full capacity of that tank because a centrifugal pump usually needs positive suction. From a fellow engineer. I deal with industrial pumping systems daily. You may not need to comply or you already checked but NFPA 13D appears to be the right reference for small residential sprinkler systems. Free access to view the standard on nfpa online. Nice video and setup.
Does he need a vacuum break to prevent backflow to potable?
I work for a FA contractor in NC. I wire up all the tampers, pressure switches, and waterflows on Sprinklers etc. We only do Commercial, Industrial and Educational, so i dont know Resi Code, but I strongly, strongly suggest putting in at a minimum a WaterFlow switch. It will have 2 sets of NO contacts, 1 to trip a Alarm Panel and 1 to trip whatever you want. We by Code have it trip a outside bell so if Fire Trucks pull up and they hear a bell, they know water is flowing. At a minimum have the waterflow trip a Alarm System. This way if your out shopping or on Vacation and there is a fire the Alarm will go off and you will be called from your monitoring Center. Also if a pipe Burts or freezes and water flows you will know. Looks great though. That's just my 2 cents. You've worked so hard on it, it's worth to protect the investment. Also you can monitor your valves if they are in off positions to send a signal to the Alarm Panel, this way if your valves are in off position bc if work or maintenance and your forget to turn them back on you will know. Hit me up if you have any questions
Tamper is part #Potter RBVS
Flow would be Potter VSR-S
Appreciate all that insight! Definitely a good idea, we will use a smoke detector listener to alert us if the alarms go off while away but no way to know if sprinkler water was flowing from a leak or some other reason without the flow switch.
I am quite interested in residential sprinkler systems. I have a few comments on your installation.
1. You said you filled your piping system. Unless you had a place to bleed the air out, your pipes still full of air just under pressure. When you system goes off the first thing the fire will get is a large blast of air.
2. I would have put a float valve in your tank with a pipe the same size as your main well pipe. Then it could be filling while your pump is fighting the fire. Giving you more water than the tanks 300 gallons. Maybe after 300 gallons you want the water to stop. 300 gallons might be enough to put out the fire or maybe enough to put out 95% of the fire.
3. Your water tank is going to grow algae like crazy. Maybe even plugging your pump. When a commercial sprinkler goes off the water looks like used motor oil.
4. Your fill set up needs a back flow preventer. If you’re filling your tank the has lots of disgusting water in it, and you lose water pressure, loss of electricity, it can syphon the water back into your house water system. That would contaminate the house plumbing as well as your well.
Not trying to criticize all your hard work and time it took to create this content. Just sharing some of my thoughts.
About a year back I’m planning on installing a fire sprinkler system at my dad’s new house, once the additions and renovations come, I’ll have a fire sprinkler system.
Let's goooo
5:29 thank you for this 😂😂
Gotta throw in an Easter egg here or there 😄
13:15 - Hey if it's a 240v circuit for the 12/2 romex on the pump and you're using a white conductor as a hot, make sure to wrap those in black electrical tape near the ends. Usually a code requirement and just lets the next dude know they're dealing with a hot and not a neutral. Good work!
Good call, I always remember in the panel but forget at the other end haha
Would be interested to see a flow switch tied to a notifier, so you know if a sprinkler has been activated! The right way is with a fire monitoring system, though you could probably do it yourself with home assistant!
True, the current plan is a smart listener for the wired smoke alarms. Unfortunately we couldn't find "smart" wired alarms that also had the capability to send a push notification, but there are smart listeners. That still is limited to just smoke, not the actual sprinklers flowing. When we expand the sprinkler system to cover the future addition I'll probably add a monitoring component
Maybe to cycle the system regularly, you could supply an outdoor garden sprinkler, to get rid of non-potable water, and verify the pump functioning.
Are you considering a sprinkler system for the roof and exterior of your home too?
You have helped me with my rainwater outdoor sprinkler system, 6:00 I was not aware they made a low pressure switch to turn off the pump should my rainwater catch tank run dry. Can borrow most of those same concepts for remote water system except I will need the pressure tank you mentioned to extend the life of the pump.
Look at that! I did not know about the low pressure cut off switches either until I was browsing Supply House and saw it right next to the normal versions. For low-flow wells I feel like it would also be a no-brainer to keep the pump from running dry.
I would recommend adding a pressure tank after the pump to prevent short cycling
Definitely a future add 👌🏼
Would you consider a battery backup like Ecoflow has for your pump?
Maybe, but it wouldn't be a near term thing. A bladder tank will probably be the first backup, since it doesn't need power and is good for ~10-20 gallons of pressure that would likely handle whatever might set a sprinkler off
My fire prone area build plan is to build out of concrete. I will probably put a water pump in the pond though for fire fighting.
Yep also a good idea for high risk wildfire areas. We will definitely consider more masonry in the future addition
let me just start off by saying I know nothing about nothing but, I feel like that check valve is not going to hold pressure and the pump is going to cycle on and off often to keep pressure. maybe you could put a buffer pressure tank to increase the time in-between the pump cycling. I think normal fire systems pressurizes the tank and whole system with a nitrogen cylinder but they have steel water tanks that can hold that pressure. but I hope I'm wrong and your setup works well!
How does it help if the fire comes from the outside?
Doesn't really help, until the insides catch on fire and by that time, the structure is compromised and it's probably too late to save it. If the fire threat is external, like in SOCAL, then you really need to build out of less combustible materials and have an external fire suppression system, like sprinklers, water cannons, etc.
In Florida they would make you use cold rolled steel
Must be the hot attics or hurricanes or both!
what if in fire electricity goes out .. anyback on that ?
I talk a little about that at the end!
Im putting a sprinkler system in my house its cheap easy and well worth it
How much has it lowered your home owners insurance
I would never spend money on a sprinkler system fir a house.
Why not?
Genuine question, if this is relatively affordable, and it very much looks like it with regard to percent of cost of a new build, why isn't it building code? It would seem you shouldn't have to convince anyone. In. my area, fire detectors must be hard wired, I don't understand why they wouldn't take the next step. Personally it is great to not lose the house, or have less damage, but in my own opinion this should be critical with regard to saving lives.
does it work without water?...
No, that’s why he’s storing water on site
Does your insurance company give you a discount for installing a home sprinkler system?
They do, but not very much haha
They had some actuary calculate the losses from false positives, no doubt.
Don’t build your house out of combustible materials.