Fire sprinklers save lives, reduce property loss and can even help cut home owner insurance premiums.

Installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system reduces the risk of death in a home fire by 82%, relative to having neither.

Home fire sprinklers use only a fraction of the water used by fire department hoses. Ninety percent of fires are contained by the operation of just one sprinkler. Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water directly on the fire.

Nationally, on average, home fire sprinkler systems add 1% to 1.5% of the total building cost in new construction. Typically, equal to what you'd pay for an upgrade in carpeting!

Generally insurance rates go down because fire sprinklers keep the damage low. The likelihood that a sprinkler will accidentally discharge because of a manufacturing defect is extremely rare (1 in 16 million). Sprinkler heads do not tend to leak as they are under the same pressure as the plumbing system but are tested at 2-3 times higher pressure during installation.

The only testing required on a regular basis is opening the drain/test valve to check the alarm operation. The rest of the system is designed to operate properly for 20 years or more without any maintenance.

Watch this video from the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition showing a fire spread timeline in a typical house. This video requires Adobe Flash Player to view it. You can download a copy of Adobe Flash Player by clicking the link below to the right.