If your plastic fittings are enclosed in a curtain of spray, they are unlikely to melt or burn. It's all very well to define optimum practices, but if they result in people not taking measures because of their unaffordability, it is not helpful. After attending a workshop, i have spent $200 on pipes and fittings for a DIY system. I will extend it, but already it's fairly impressive. Bushfires typically move through very quickly and quite minor protective measures can tip the balance from burning to not burning. Get stuff wet, that is the secret. Wet stuff does not burn. I have a lot of treated pine landscaping and the sections that did not burn were the ones i hosed down the night before the fire came through. And I don't have 100,000s of litres of water. Do what you can afford, and use what you have, don't worry about the 'experts' telling you it's not good enough.
That's what I was thinking. I built a heavy duty sprinkler out of steel and a brass impact sprinkler. It's great, but it's like over $100 in hardware. So this spring, when I start designing something, I'm going to try and make it much cheaper.
@aks20002 The majority of asphalt shingles fall under Class A providing a high level of fire protection to the roof deck. Class A shingles are considered fully fire-resistant, offering robust defense against the spread of flames. I'm worried about ground cover near the house, and embers getting in attic vents.
@ that is true, but I have read at many places that ambers can get to the roof deck through the crevices between shingles or concrete tiles or fascia and rain gutter. Roof top sprinklers may mitigate that. But I agree that best protection will come through passive defense measures , like concrete floor of 5-10’ width around entire perimeter of the home, no vegetation near 10 or more feet, metal fence, metal gutter guard etc etc.
I may be thinking too loud here, but will it be too difficult and expensive to build a water recirculation system for these fire sprinklers, so that the amount of water needed to run the system becomes a non issue ? Basically for this system, create a 5-10' wide concrete floor around the entire perimeter of the house to catch the run off. Then , direct the runoff water from this area and gutters to a tank and pump the water from that tank to run the sprinklers. Any water lost due to evaporation or wind will be replenished from water main through an automated level maintaining system. I guess 70-80% of water can be collected back for the recirculation system and will allow use of large number of high flow impact sprinklers to thoroughly wet the roof and walls without worrying about wastage of water. The system will be expensive, but will look dirt cheap when compared with losses inflicted by wild fires like Palisade. Making concrete floor around the home is already being recommended for fire hardening of homes . Couple this with other measures like metal fence, non combustible side and roof claddings etc and when implemented at community level through updated building code , I would hope we can have a solution to CA wild fires. Moreover, these measures could be incrementally implemented keeping financial considerations in focus.
Is part of the problem in LA and Hawaii house fires from their use of bituminous tiles on the roof of their homes, spreading bituminous embers across the suburbs. Please investigate.
Thank you so much
Fantastic work 😊
Thank you!
This was fascinating, thankyou for sharing this evilving science.
If your plastic fittings are enclosed in a curtain of spray, they are unlikely to melt or burn. It's all very well to define optimum practices, but if they result in people not taking measures because of their unaffordability, it is not helpful. After attending a workshop, i have spent $200 on pipes and fittings for a DIY system. I will extend it, but already it's fairly impressive. Bushfires typically move through very quickly and quite minor protective measures can tip the balance from burning to not burning. Get stuff wet, that is the secret. Wet stuff does not burn. I have a lot of treated pine landscaping and the sections that did not burn were the ones i hosed down the night before the fire came through. And I don't have 100,000s of litres of water. Do what you can afford, and use what you have, don't worry about the 'experts' telling you it's not good enough.
100% my DIY sprinklers where a major part of me saving 2 dwellings & 5 sheds, all old & timber in 2019 near Cobargo - you summed it up perfectly.
That's what I was thinking. I built a heavy duty sprinkler out of steel and a brass impact sprinkler. It's great, but it's like over $100 in hardware. So this spring, when I start designing something, I'm going to try and make it much cheaper.
For those requiring a water tank just switching to a non combustible tank material can be cost prohibitive.
Hello from Los Angeles- Palisades fire 2024. Excellent presentation. Im installing flat fan under eaves around house this year.
what is your plan for roof top ? No option looks like a good option per this presentation .
@aks20002 The majority of asphalt shingles fall under Class A providing a high level of fire protection to the roof deck. Class A shingles are considered fully fire-resistant, offering robust defense against the spread of flames. I'm worried about ground cover near the house, and embers getting in attic vents.
@ that is true, but I have read at many places that ambers can get to the roof deck through the crevices between shingles or concrete tiles or fascia and rain gutter. Roof top sprinklers may mitigate that. But I agree that best protection will come through passive defense measures , like concrete floor of 5-10’ width around entire perimeter of the home, no vegetation near 10 or more feet, metal fence, metal gutter guard etc etc.
I may be thinking too loud here, but will it be too difficult and expensive to build a water recirculation system for these fire sprinklers, so that the amount of water needed to run the system becomes a non issue ? Basically for this system, create a 5-10' wide concrete floor around the entire perimeter of the house to catch the run off. Then , direct the runoff water from this area and gutters to a tank and pump the water from that tank to run the sprinklers. Any water lost due to evaporation or wind will be replenished from water main through an automated level maintaining system.
I guess 70-80% of water can be collected back for the recirculation system and will allow use of large number of high flow impact sprinklers to thoroughly wet the roof and walls without worrying about wastage of water.
The system will be expensive, but will look dirt cheap when compared with losses inflicted by wild fires like Palisade. Making concrete floor around the home is already being recommended for fire hardening of homes . Couple this with other measures like metal fence, non combustible side and roof claddings etc and when implemented at community level through updated building code , I would hope we can have a solution to CA wild fires. Moreover, these measures could be incrementally implemented keeping financial considerations in focus.
Is part of the problem in LA and Hawaii house fires from their use of bituminous tiles on the roof of their homes, spreading bituminous embers across the suburbs.
Please investigate.