Home sprinklers save lives - and money

Wayne Bedford of the Rotorua Fire Service demonstrates the installation of sprinklers into new buildings. Picture / Andrew Warner

Installing sprinklers in new homes is not only safeguarding lives but is saving some home owners hundreds of dollars.

International statistics show the number of people killed in house fires where sprinklers are present is dramatically lower than in those without.

However, that in itself is rarely enough to prompt people to install the life-saving devices in new homes.

So as the Fire Service starts a nationwide "firefighter in every room" campaign, several organisations are offering people good reasons to install sprinklers in their homes.

The financial incentives come in the form of discounts which can save homeowners anywhere from around $50 to more than $1000.

State Insurance, which is helping to sponsor the Fire Service campaign, is leading by example, with discounts on insurance for people who install sprinklers.

While the discount varies depending on the type of policy, State says it would work out to be an average of 10 per cent off for house insurance and 5 per cent for contents.

For example, customers with an average three-bedroom home with a garage and $70,000 of contents could expect to save about $50 a year (including no-claims discounts).

People living within the South Taranaki area are being offered an even bigger incentive to install the systems - a 50 per cent discount off the cost of building consents, which could save builders hundreds of dollars.

Council chief executive Craig Stevenson said the initiative made sense because sprinklers were so effective in protecting lives and property from fire.

"A key outcome identified by our community is the need for residents to feel safe in their homes and that initiative supports that," he said.

"If more people had sprinklers it would also dramatically reduce the pressure placed on the district's water supply when dealing with fires."

Fire Service Western Region commander Mitchell Brown said the council's initiative was a bold step in reducing the likelihood of fatal fires in South Taranaki.

Home sprinklers had three main benefits - reducing the death rate, reducing the cost of damage in a fire and reducing the amount of water used (and water damage) in putting out a fire.

"The Fire Service is hugely encouraged by this initiative and we hope it acts as an example for what other territorial authorities can do to help their communities."

The initiative is yet to spread to Auckland, but some councils are working through other plans to encourage sprinkler installation.

Waitakere City Council is sending out sprinkler information with all building consent material.

Council spokesman Wally Thomas said the council was also considering ideas to encourage builders to install sprinklers such as relaxing some building requirements (like the distance of a house from a hydrant or reducing water tank and piping sizes) if sprinklers are installed.

These initiatives would also help reduce building costs, saving home owners money.

Waitakere has also made a submission to a review of the Building Code which supports making sprinklers compulsory in all new dwellings.

Building Issues Minister Clayton Cosgrove said he supported Fire Service efforts to improve safety.

He said the issue of mandatory home sprinkler installation would be looked at during the review of the building code but it would have to be weighed up against costs to the homeowner.

The Fire Service home sprinkler campaign is due to run for a year.


Sprinkler facts

A home sprinkler is activated by heat, not smoke, and flames have to reach about a metre high before the sprinkler activates.

It won't be activated by burning toast, cigarettes or candles.

Only the sprinkler head closest to the fire goes off, so the entire house won't be saturated.

Built into a new home, sprinkler costs start at about $1000. The average cost of a house fire without sprinklers is $42,000.

The odds of a manufacturing fault causing a sprinkler head to go off and flood a room are 16 million to 1 - the same as winning Big Wednesday.

In 2005/06 year, 16 people died in avoidable building fires in NZ.


Case study

In 1985, the American city of Scottsdale made it compulsory for all new buildings to be built with sprinklers.

All existing multi-occupant buildings also had to install them. By 2001, more than 41,000 homes had sprinkler systems.

Scottsdale's rate of structural fires was less than one-third of the country's average.

In the 49 fires since the bylaw was introduced, no one has died in a house with sprinklers. During the same period 13 people died in fires in houses that didn't have sprinklers.

The average damage to houses with sprinklers was valued at $2166, compared to $45,019 without sprinklers.