I learned today that friends had their house gutted by fire. People are unhurt, but they lost 2 cats and a dog.
My house is old, stickbuilt, cheap, and in a rural area with volunteer fir service. (This is NOT a dig at volunteer services, it’s just that the available stations and manpower are scattered.) I have an animal family that mean the world to me, they are my dear friends and I would be beyond devastated if they were trapped in a fire.
I live in a state and county where building codes and requirements are pretty skimpy, certainly no reqs for fire suppression. I don’t even know if installation services exist here.
How would I go about finding a reputable installer? Has anyone here had experience with a retrofit of this kind?
It’s not uncommon for new construction, but retrofitting existing construction, while not impossible, presents a few challenges. Particularly access to areas in the house where the new water piping can be installed, and ensuring these pipes won’t encounter freezing conditions. Of course, the system will need to be engineered as well. Most fire suppression firms are commercial/industrial, but there will be one or two in your area. If they don’t do residential, they may know someone who does.
You mentioned rural. Do you have municipal or co-op water service available at your house, or on you on a well? One of the first things to consider is the water supply that will feed the sprinkler system, if it’s not adequate then that needs to be addressed, and you can see that this might get complicated.
But you can also review your house in terms of fire safety, making sure that you have adequate clearance around heating and electric equipment, working smoke and heat detectors, etc. Maybe someone from the VFD (volunteer fire department) can help with that.
If the electric panel and breakers are particularly old, you might have an electrician inspect them. I had an issue in the original electrical panel in my house (which was undersized for the number of breakers) when a loose neutral connection in the panel turned into an open neutral, and almost turned into a fire. If no one was home, it would have been a fire.
I’m thinking concentrate on a fire safety plan. Exits clear. Escape windows up stairs with a good way down. Fire extinguishers located in good spots. Smoke detectors that are really good.
We wanted a fire sprinkler system. We live very rural, log house, 2 fireplaces,and have a well. It was way out of our price range.
You can spend that money upgrading and safety.
A sprinkler isn’t gonna help long. If you have a cat adverse to water it could be a real problem trying to find them in fire and smoke alarms and sprinkling water as well.
Safety plan is the best bet. IMO
ETA. You can actually teach a dog to warn of smoke.
I can’t offer any advice on the specific question; in my experience, sprinkler systems are associated with commercial buildings. Around here, at any rate, I’ve never seen one in a private home. What I would suggest is the following, if you haven’t already done it – and apologies if this may be bleeding obvious.
First, wired and interconnected smoke+CO detectors on every level, with battery backup. “Interconnected” means that when one goes off, they all go off, so there’s no possibility of not hearing one or sleeping through it. Then fire extinguishers in strategic locations, regularly maintained per manufacturer’s recommendations. Dry chemical is generally considered the most versatile type that is good for A, B, and C class fires, covering wood and fabric, oil and solvents, and electrical fires, respectively. You want at least some of those extinguishers to be the larger 4-pound size, not the kitchen size.
I’ve never experienced a fire but I know enough about them to understand how dramatically fast they can spread. Fast detection and fast action is critical.
And finally …
^^^^
This.
Also, sprinkler systems are not only really expensive to install, but create risks inherent in having pressurized water pipes and heat-sensitive valves all over the ceilings, creating the possibility of water damage from leaks or valve issues.
I would strongly suggest that the only strategic location is by an exit door. This gives you the opportunity to assess whether you can actually do something about the fire and leave the building immediately if you can’t.
Thanks for the input so far, all good.
The house is single story, with attic access to the full house. We live in the south where serious freezes are rare, and I think the attic space stays above freezing simply through the house heat rising up - but that’s definitely a concern. We are on a well but it’s got great supply and good pressure. I’ve left the hose running full bore all day after scrubbing and refilling a water trough and didn’t have an issue. As I understand it, the system is built around the available supply. The electrical IS a concern and is already on my To Do list.
We do have smoke detectors, and at not quite 1800 sq ft there is no way anyone is sleeping through one going off. Honestly my real concern is a fire happening when no one is home. All the alarms and extinguishers in the world won’t save my cats if there isn’t a person there to do something, and my husband and I both work full time away from home 
I have a friend and fellow firefighter who installs them. He owns a contracting business, so perhaps start there. We are also in such a rural area, his specialty is residential and due to a recent influx of city folk buying second homes in the area, has moved to include more upscale work such as this.
Many times the installs are a dry system with compressed air in the lines. A drop in air pressure releases the water. This eliminates the pipe freezing issue. There are also some very nice hidden sprinklers where flat/flush panels is all one sees and they would pop out during activation. That would be harder to retrofit but it’s out there. Also code around here required such a system to be given continuous water forever once activated, only can be turned off manually. This could be a double edged sword. Some of his clients have elected to forgo that and install it on a pressure tank of a certain size, and once it’s done with it’s water it’s done. This is to prevent excessive water damage and not to burn out the well pump, especially if it was from a system leak. and the initial use of sprinklers on a fire are pretty effective as is, everything gets wet so that greatly hinders the spread of the fire. Yes it is not code compliant, but also yes one is allowed to have such a system, and there is no code that requires a home fire system - so no issue with that.
I disagree. I think they should be place in areas where fire is most likely (kitchen, furnace room). Also, one on each floor of the home.
mmm
At least in my house, if the extinguishers were at the exit/entry doors, I was in the bedroom, and the fire was in the kitchen, I’d be in a baaaaad way.
I should have one in the bedroom by the door, that would allow me to potentially do something useful. If not, break a window and bail, and hope my kitties can find a way too.
I need a much better solution … 
Sprinklers are not meant to save the house–they’re meant to save the inhabitants. Retrofitting really can only be done with a gut of the house (or at least the ceilings). Assuming you are subject to building codes, this would be absurdly expensive. We installed sprinklers in our previous very rural house, and it was pretty expensive even during a new build. And, if you get your water from a well, you likely don’t have sufficient capacity to run a sprinkler system–our old house had a dedicated 1500 gallon cistern with a pump for the sprinkler system.
Residential sprinkler heads seem (from a quick online search) to flow from 13 to 26 gallons per minute (gpm) Water supply calculations for commercial systems assume that multiple heads will be activated, so I would guess residential systems would assume more than one head has activated. Three heads flowing 13 gpm would need 39 gpm (78 gpm if they are 26 gpm heads). That’s probably more than a typical residential well pump can supply.
Commercial systems also need to have a water supply that can flow the required gpm for a set amount of time, I forget if it is 30 minutes or longer, probably depends on the hazard class of the building. For a residential system, where evacuation is the purpose, I would guess a minimum amount of time, say 5 minutes, is long enough to get everyone out of a house. But it won’t let cats out of the house if no one is home. Also, if a cat happens to be in a room where a sprinkler head activated, good luck finding that cat, he’s bolting to the nearest hiding spot.
I don’t mean to put you off of the idea, if you can do it and are able to afford it, then you can decide. If not, fire prevention measures and awareness are still useful.
A little more looking around and I found more information that suggests that I overstated water requirements for home sprinklers. Disregard my comments, my experience is with commercial systems and apparently doesn’t translate well to residential systems.
I think this is extremely bad advice. Most house fire start in the kitchen, so there should definitely be a fire extinguisher there. In my house the exit door is down a flight of stairs and on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. What’s the point of forcing someone who sees a kitchen fire to run downstairs, grab an extinguisher, and then run back upstairs? And how can I “assess” the situation if I’ve moved to a point where I can no longer see the fire?
I am aware of that. It’s the inhabitants I want to save, the house can be rebuilt.
Yes, I am aware of that too. I don’t think it would be a huge deal with my house’s layout. As I said, one story with an attic over all. You punch through the ceiling and you’re in the attic.
I was envisioning something similar.
If they bolt to a hiding spot in a room that’s no longer burning, I don’t care. They can be found.
I realize that nothing is foolproof, and that a sprinkler system won’t keep my shiny happy life happy and shiny if there’s a fire. I’m not a dope looking for a miracle. What I want is to provide the best shot possible for all living things to survive a house fire. I have the smoke alarms and they work. We are getting the wiring looked at. I do need fire extinguishers, that’s next on my list.
Thanks everyone for their input, it really is helpful!
What I was taught as part of my training to be a member of my neighborhood emergency team is that you (as a non-firefighter) use a fire extinguisher on flames less than 3 feet tall, not involving structure. Once it’s climbing a wall, or has furniture for fuel, or otherwise is bigger than basically a trashcan fire, the priority is to get out. And you need to practice the whole PASS sequence at least once. (Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze, Sweep). We got to practice at the fire department’s training facility, and people had trouble at every step the first time through. (Different people at different steps.) My mistake the first time was not aiming low enough.
Of course using one to help you get out is OK too, although using a window in the room you’re in is safer than trying to go through smoke or fire to a door.
Keeping an extinguisher at an exit doesn’t make much sense to me unless there’s a common fire hazard in that location.
@saje, there is a passive device you can install over your stove burners.
RANGEHOOD DEMO on Vimeo (video link)
I don’t know much about them, except that one of the firefighters specifically mentioned this device. Maybe one of the experts can comment on it. There are similar things you can mount in other areas, but I know even less about those:
https://youtu.be/u4kJj0QBMag?si=LqHao6M6QYY5bk7n (video link)
That stovetop thing is kind of neat! But it looks like you’d need one over each burner?
The second link went to an ad about saving money on your electric bill in Oregon … ?
Any fire is devastating. Accidents are just that way.
I fear it. I think what I would do. I have hope the adult humans, in my house will hear the smoke alarms and get the children to the right place. Everyone remembers the plan we’ve set up. I hope the dogs will mind and follow us out. I wonder exactly what my cats will do? They’ll never obey and come to me. I assume they’re gonna go up. Rarely have they been outdoors.
It’s a human, visceral fear.
Reduce the odds as much as you can.
I’m definitely no expert, but offhand I see three potential issues – and keep in mind I’m just speculating here. One is that it seems to depend on a wick being ignited, which seems to me to mean that the flames have to be pretty high before it activates. The second is that it only covers a limited fire area. And the third, related to the first two, is that by the time the flames are high enough to activate the device, they may already have spread well beyond the range of the extinguishing chemical.
IMH and non-expert O, I think the best option for the kitchen is a proper certified dry chemical fire extinguisher. It doesn’t have to be a big one but it should be a real one, the kind that can be recharged and with a proper pressure gauge that you can use to verify that it’s operational and containing a couple of pounds of dry chemical, not one of those dinky things that look like whipped cream dispensers! 
One by the stove (and make sure it’s one rated for grease fires). One near the fireplace if you use one.
Yes, if there’s a fire, getting everyone out safely is top priority, but something small, while you’re right there, can often be put out just as it gets started - making all other plans moot.
Keeping a box of salt or baking soda near the stove is also a good idea. I once heard my son exclaim in shock as he was cooking something. I glanced over, saw flames, and grabbed the big box of Morton’s, and dealt with the problem in a second and a half.
Other than those quibbles, there’s a lot of good advice in this thread.
If there’s a fee for fire protection, make sure you’re contributing as appropriate. Even if it’s not mandatory, making donations would be good karma.
Given the attic situation and your willingness to put in a cistern, it sounds like it’s doable. Almost all commercial buildings are required to have sprinklers, so there is an installer somewhere near you. You might reach out to the fire chief–often they are the ones who inspect the installation. I don’t know how big your house is, but I bet you’re looking at mid 5 figures. You will get an insurance break, so there’s that. FWIW we did not sprinkle our new house.
There are a lot of other things you can do to mitigate fire risk–a modern breaker panel with GFCI and arc fault breakers being probably #1. If you have wildfire risk, defensible space is probably #2. I don’t have the stats, but I would bet money electrical, cooking and wildfire account for the vast majority of home fires.
ETA–and clean out your dryer duct!!!