Your home is meant to be your escape from it all, the place you can go to relax, unwind, enjoy good times with family and friends, and fill it with incredible memories. Now, because your home is filled with people you love and special tokens and keepsakes, obviously you want to keep it as safe as possible. A fire in your home can be one of the most deadly events imaginable, and is responsible for killing around 3,000 people each year, and injuring another 20,000.

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The good news is that there are steps you can take to limit the risk of a fire; you can install smoke detectors/alarms to alert you to the fire, and then you can take it one step further and look into home sprinkler systems. A sprinkler system can act as that last resort that buys you the time you need to get out of the house, and possibly prevent complete ruin of the property.

Here’s a look at two of the most common types of home sprinkler systems that you may want to invest in.

Dry Pipe Sprinkler Systems

With a dry pipe fire sprinkler system, as the name implies, the pipes are dry until the system is triggered. The pipes themselves are filled with pressurized nitrogen gas or air that is then released when the sprinkler head opens. As the pressurized air is released, the water is able to flow through the pipes and out through the sprinkler heads.

These types of systems tend to be popular in unheated buildings where water left in the pipes could freeze and therefore be useless if a fire breaks out. The one big negative with this type of system is that there is that delay between the pressurized air being released, and the water reaching the sprinkler head. While that may seem like a short amount of time, in a fire each second counts.

Wet Pipe Sprinkler Systems

Unlike with the dry pipe system, the water sits in the pipes with the wet pipe system. These tend to be the most common type of sprinkler system out there, and are activated by heat that reaches the sprinkler head. There is no delay between activation and the water being released, which means you get those extra few seconds.

Have it Installed by a Professional

As the final piece of advice or information, it’s always best to have your sprinkler system installed by professionals with experience, training, and knowledge. Take for example the sprinkler engineers at New York Engineers who understand that it’s not only important from an insurance and regulatory standpoint to install it correctly, but also from a safety aspect. The system needs to be designed to fit your home and specifications in order to be effective.

Options that Suit Your Needs

As for other types of residential systems, there are also pre-action fire sprinkler systems and deluge fire systems. All systems come with a list of pros and cons, so it’s important to do your research before you make any kind of decision on what to install.