Nope. No sprinklers for me until Al Gores "Global Warming" kicks in and we stop getting two weeks of -20 F for two weeks every winter, and the median temperature from December to April stays above 40 F.

I too, have seen what water can do to a residence. I've seen homes that resembled some odd new-age fountain. I've seen water pipes freeze solid in a baseboard radiant heat system where it was just too cold.

Let me ask... how did humanity evolve for millions of years, survive the Stone Age, the Dark Ages, , all the hundreds of centuries up to the Industrial Revolution through the space-age without this nanny-state bull[ORGANIC FERTILIZER]?

It irritates me to no end. What we need is less regulation, not more.

+1 to Binky's post.

They're both just as likely. Both are fitted to pipes filled with water and are under pressure. A sprinkler system just doubles the possible leak/waterdamage sources in your house.

That said, from an insurance point of veiw, fires in homes have killed far more people than sprinkler systems have, and that's a high payout claim.

The instance of house fires vs. leaking pipes is also higher. Sprinkler systems reduce fire damage and loss of life, netting a good risk and a lesser/lower chance of large payouts/claims.

Another problem is that if you live in the country and have a well, is water pressure. I have a well system for my shop, and had to go with a self contained chemical system for my finishing room. The cost for what it would have taken to get the well to have enough pressure was outragous, and I only needed a 3-headed system.

They were probably looking to install a water curtain system, which requires a lot of water. low flowage, high pressure systems that create the mist style just use a booster pump on the regular water lines. advantages are instead of 40 gallons a minute of water you get 1.5 to 3 gallons, and it only flows from the tripped sprinkler head.



RE the building codes as nanny statism. BS. go live somewhere where there is lax code enforcement and you will live in a hell hole.

code enforcement<img src="http://images.world66.com/sl/um/_q/slum_quarter_in_th_1_galleryfull">

code enforcement. <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/274073147_ecb4e0401a.jpg">

When we first moved into our townhome in Blaine, I was happy to see that it had a fire sprinkler system, but worried about what would happen if one of the heads accidentally discharged. Lived there for 5 years...no problems (even 'lightly' struck one accidentally with a ladder while painting). Got a nice reduction on our insurance policy, and also good piece of mind (when there are 9 other units in the building, you never know what bone-headed stuff others might be doing that could be a severe fire hazard). Never had to worry about some other knucklehead in the building burning the entire place down.

I still own the townhome as a rental unit, and sleep well at night knowing that my place isn't going to burn down.

(NOTE: In that specific installation, there was a locked 'dog house' at the end of the building with pressure meters for each livable unit. If pressure fell beneath a certain point for a given unit (i.e. sprinkler(s) active), the fire department automatically gets dispatched. Kinda neat...)

In an apartment, maybe.

But I can take responsibility for my own house, and every one else can stay the hell out. It's nobody's business but my own if I have a working smoke-detector, or Carbon Monoxide detector, or sprinkler system.

I pay taxes, that buys me the privalage of telling the Nanny-Staters, "Stay the hell out of my house. In fact, move off my porch, down my driveway, and off my property. You are not invited and you have no permission to be here." (Barring, of course, the unlikely even that they have a warrant, but I doubt even the most facist judge would grant a warrant for a "sprinkler system violation".)

*clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*

I'll take that bet.



http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/g ... vol=apppub\9811\c3981016&invol=1
(sorry, this link is misbehaving, just cut & paste)

My new townhouse had sprinklers in them. It was completed in 9/2008. The earlier units didn't have sprinklers so they were added to the city code early/mid 2008.

Mine didn't impact my insurance rates. Why? They're required for code. If they weren't installed, I wouldn't have been able to get insurance (new construction not up to code) and since they were required, it wasn't something I did to improve the safety of my home.

So if its not code, you may get the discount.

Then you need a new insurance company. Several offer 25 to 45% discounts on home owners/fire casualty rates.

Good point. My townhome was built in 2002...before it was a requirement (I believe).

If its code or not, there are companies that offer a discount for home sprinkler systems. Because it lowers the expected payout on fire damage and loss of life.


RE codes again,


I have worked in places without code enforcement, and I have lived with strict code enforcement and I will choose to accept code enforcement, Other wise very soon you have the house next door to you, which was a nice clean house when you moved in, get bought by the "losers from hell, MC club" and all of a sudden you have a dozen dead cars in the drive way, they let their dogs run wild and they are now running a chop shop in the back yard. You may take good care of you house, but your property values will nose dive because of the lack of code enforcement.

BELIEVE me, I am the least of the Nanny Staters. but Codes are like fences, good ones make good neighbors. I have seen houses with non code septic systems where raw sewage runs down hill into other yards every time it rains. You can say you hate codes because its Minnesota and we do try to do codes right here, but if you get to other places and see what happens when there is no code enforcement, and you will change your mind.

Codes normally do not mean you are getting invasive inspection without prior knowlege, but usually it means when someone adds, alters or constructs shelters they must be done to a minimum standard.

Few things to mention:

1. Housing codes are not for you individually, they are to protect everyone else in the community from you individually. So saying "I don't like meeting Code, stay the hell away from my house" doesn't really hunt. If you are storing 1000 gallons of gas in a leaking tank in your back yard, I as your neighbor would prefer somebody made you stop doing that. No smoke alarm or CO alarm in your house, means your house might catch fire, or kill MY kid when he's visiting your kid. I'm sorry but the fact that you didn't think you needed a $20 smoke alarm isn't going to mean much when you have a tragedy like that on your hands. You may not like it, but in a civilized, decent world you do (or "should" I ought to say) have some responsibility to your fellow humans.

2. No Code, or no enforcement causes problems. The City of Detroit recently updated their building Code on the very premise that it would help lower their crime rate. Abandoned buildings, and buildings in disrepair attract people of mischief, and crime follows. General rule, I'm sure there are plenty of small exceptions.

3. Minnesota is one of the last States to enact Sprinkler Systems into their building code. Many other states have done this already. Minnesota's response was "lets see if it works for them, and if it does then we'll do it." So count yourself lucky there.

4. A large majority of the Building Code really doesn't mean a whole lot in the way of expenses to you. Getting pissed about little things like GFE outlets and smoke alarms isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the events they can prevent. I'm worried some are losing sight of the big picture. Not that I see it all that clearly.

Feel free to let us know what happens when your house gets hit by a tornado, you get an attic fire, or are robbed.

I live in a house that's close to a hundred years old and doesn't have a sprinkler system or GFCI outlets. Even though it has quite a bit of asbestos wiring, it hasn't burned down yet.

While a lot of technologies can really improve the safety, functionality and efficiency of a building, I don't like the government forcing their use. It would be better if the insurance or liability companies pushed for their use.