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Sprinklers

Sprinklers were originally designed to automatically turn on when a fire has been detected to eliminate the fire as quickly as possible with minimal damage. They system was widely accepted by large boats, mills, factories, stores, and theatres. The sprinklers are heat sensitive, so one those in the area of the fire will be triggered to release water.

The first automatic sprinkler was patented in England in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey, a celebrated chemist. He wanted to protect people and buildings from the destruction of fires. Often the response time to a fire was too long, resulting in injuries, death, and destruction of buildings. The building were often homes and factories that provided jobs.

The system was not used in the United States until 1852. It was used to protect the roofs of textile mills. Later they were installed to protect spinning rooms as they were a location of fires that spread very rapidly. Ten years later, other types of businesses began using the sprinkler because they were outraged at the rising costs of insurance. With sprinklers in place, they could greatly reduce the risk of fire damage and were able to afford their insurance rates.

The sprinkler has continued to be improved on to meet the changing needs of the market as well as to accommodate new risks that arose. An area that needed improvement from the early stages was the design of the sprinkler. It was not effective in high piled storage area, leading to the development of the large drop sprinkler.

While the sprinkler definitely had a quicker response time than the fire department, it still needed improvements to be faster to prevent damage. The fast response sprinkler was developed to meet that need. The next area of concern was the visual of the sprinklers. Many hotel, restaurant, and businesses complained that they were unsightly and stuck out like a sore thumb in their organization. This lead to the development of miniature glass bulb sprinklers.

Today, sprinklers are mandatory in most public building to meet building codes and to offer safety. While the design continues to improve to provide us with the fastest reacting sprinklers, we can all appreciate the comfort of knowing this safety device is in place should the need for it arise. Sprinklers systems are also mandated to be inspected and tested on a regular basis to ensure ongoing protection.

We hope you enjoy reading our sprinklers website, and we wish you the best!

~ The Sprinklers Team

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