Little did I know at the time that this is where I would put down roots. Fire sprinkler design is much like mechanical engineering with hydraulic overtones. We start with either new construction or an existing building. Fire sprinklers are installed in everything from residential to commercial structures. There are innumerable misconceptions regarding fire sprinklers due to inaccurate depictions of fire sprinkler systems in movies and through misinformation.
Most sprinklers are heat activated.
There is a glass bulb or a metal solder link that is a part of each individual sprinkler that will either burst or melt at a certain temperature. When that happens, the opening in the sprinkler allows water to flow out. Obviously, only the sprinklers that have been heat activated will discharge water. The temperature of the fire and the area of the fire are the factors that control the number of sprinklers that actually go off. A common misconception is that the water damage from an activated fire sprinkler system ends up being horribly expensive and not worth having the fire sprinkler system installed.