Why Servicing Your Fire Sprinkler System Before Winter Could Save You from Disaster

Fire sprinkler systems can be susceptible to frost damage during the winter months. As a building owner, you need to make yourself aware of the basic precautions you can take to protect your system.

The Dangers of Freezing Temperatures

If you have water that’s frozen in your sprinkler system, then this can cause a huge amount of damage to your system, including your sprinkler heads, pipework, valves, and pumps. Damages like this often result in expensive repairs, and they can leave your system inoperable as well. 

Care should be taken to make sure that there is no risk of freezing within the building, especially if you shut down your heating systems when they aren’t occupied.

Where fire pumps are installed, you need to make sure that you check the pump room to make sure that it is operating as it should be. 

As a general rule, you need to ensure you have a minimum temperature of 10 °C for diesel engine pumps and 4 °C for electric pumps. Maintaining temperatures not only helps you to stop frost damage, but it also makes sure that your engines are able to start during cold weather. 

It also stops condensation from forming within the pump motor, which will again result in an expensive repair.

When checking over your system before the cold weather hits, you also need to check your ventilation louvres. If these have been installed, you need to make sure that they remain closed and that they are not in the open position after being tested.

Why Servicing Matters

Carrying out fire sprinkler servicing regularly, and especially before winter, is one of the best and most effective ways for you to prevent frost damage. It also helps you to keep your building safe. 

A trained engineer won’t just look at the obvious; they will carry out a full inspection that involves them checking for any hidden vulnerabilities in your system. When temperatures drop, vulnerabilities like this can result in you having a major system failure, which, in the event of a fire, can be life-threatening. 

Your technician will first check the system insulation to make sure that the pipes and the valves are protected against freezing temperatures. They will also test pump operation as well as the heating to make sure that the pump is always staying within the normal operable temperature range.

Your technician will also inspect your valves, sprinkler heads, and seals. If they are showing signs of wear, then the cold weather can exacerbate this, especially below freezing temperatures. 

If you can have an inspection done before winter, then you can not only avoid expensive repairs, but also unexpected breakdowns, which can be life-threatening.

Winterising your Fire Sprinkler System

Winterisation is a good way for you to make sure that you are preventing burst pipes, which can prevent sprinklers from operating properly. 

It is also a good way for you to prevent pipe corrosion, which can compromise the entire integrity of your system. It’s not just about stopping your system from failing, either; it’s also about ensuring that you are legally compliant and that you are not in breach of fire and safety regulations. 

If you want to winterise your sprinkler system, installing the piping within a heated building is usually the best first step. 

You also need to use pre-action systems so you can find out which areas are at risk of freezing, so you can take the right measures. 

Using insulated pipe covers can help here, but ultimately, having a fire sprinkler servicing team come around to take a look at your system and the way that it works is one of the best things you can do. 

That way, you can feel confident knowing that everything is working as it should and that you aren’t going to experience issues later down the line. 

If you want to get your fire sprinkler system tested, or if you know that you are due for a fire sprinkler repair, then we strongly encourage you to get in touch with us today.

When you do, you can count on us to meet and exceed your requirements, while providing you with a service you can feel confident in. You can contact us here if you’d like to book in with our team of technicians.