Loft conversion - sprinkler system

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Hey everyone. We’re getting our loft done next year, and have an open plan corrodor/kitchen downstairs. For fire regs we have two options - a stud wall and door built in the hallway which we could then remove after approval has been sought. Or, a sprinkler system.

i’m erring towards the sprinkler system, but wondering if anyone has these and what they’re like? Do they need regular maintaining? What happens if they go off by mistake (like a smoke alarm might) don’t they get everything wet?!

keen to hear what others who have done think of it.

Oh thank you!!! Do they need regular maintaining?

This kind of thing…we have a turn in the stairs and it is in the wall with a modern, metal grill over.
https://www.justfans.co.uk/commercial-fans-smoke-extract-fans-f300-f400-rated-c-27_291.html

The company supplied and fitted for domestic premises. I will look and see who we used.

OK, odd. We did a loft conversion with a landing and fire door on the bedroom and it passed regs no problem. Its an open plan staircase and landing space.

Thanks! I’ve not heard of this solution before. Are your stairs against an outside wall? Where does it vent to?

We have a mist system. It's been no bother, just has to be checked annually which costs about £70 i think.

It's not intended to put a fire out, just stop it spreading long enough for people to get to the door to escape. So not the drenching people imagine from sprinklers, more of a fine mist spray. Not that I've seen it go off luckily!

The smoke alarm is a grumpy bugger and goes off regularly so definitely not as sensitive. I have a feeling the mist system may be triggered by heat rather than smoke but I'm not certain about that.

We get them serviced annually, but it's very straight forward and doesn't take them long.

I've just remembered that we had one instance about 5 years ago when they were first installed, where we noticed the the sensors would randomly start moving while we were watching tv... but as they could not detect anything hot or any smoke they would stop on their own. It was a bit disconcerting the first time it happened but the company came round and reset the system and it's never happened again. But it is also easy to intervene yourself and override the system if you think there is a chance they have triggered in error, and you are worried they might actually detect something which could set off the sprinklers. But we have never had to do that!

Thanks @OooPourUsACupLove and @lostinchaos. This makes much more sense - re it just stopping the fire spreading vs a sprinkler system. Annual servicing is also a fine compromise. This has given me much more confidence about it. Thanks both!

We had a loft conversion about 4 or 5 years ago and had to have a mist system installed. Your situation sounds identical to ours right down to the suggestion of installing and removing a wall - which we also dismissed due to insurance concerns.

We went with the mist system - though my dh suggested a fire extinguisher at the bottom of the stairs could also work - and it's been totally fine. I set the smoke alarm off by sanding too close to one when decorating in the summer and it didn't set anything off. I've never even seen it scan as I wasn't home when it was fitted.

We've had it checked / serviced a couple of times but mostly just ignore it. It was probably the least exciting large purchase I've ever made!

Thank you!!

I don't know about a domestic setups, but in commercial properties I think the sprinklers are triggered by thermal and thermal acceleration sensors.

They basically monitor how hot the room is and how quickly it got that hot - to determine if the increase in temperature is actually a fire or just the sun (or whatever) gradually making the room extra hot.

And, as others have already said, installing, then removing a fire-break wall or door would likely invalidate insurance and result in criminal proceedings if someone got injured or killed in a fire.

Fire mist doesn’t put out a fire with water. The fine water mist starves the fire of oxygen. The water mist is in the air - watch a Plumis video online, it’ll help! If it goes off, there is no water damage to your home. It’s triggered by heat, not smoke. Just putting one in our self build house.

establishing what triggers mist (or sprinkler) system is a simply a matter of looking up simple facts.
They are activated by heat sensors, not smoke detectors.

Thank you, this makes so much more sense. We’re pretty sold on the idea now thanks to everyone’s comments 🙂