The first day of winter was only a month ago. But, many cities across the nation already set new record-breaking low temperatures. The fire and life safety industry has dealt with more fire sprinkler freeze-ups than it has in years. These fire sprinkler freeze-ups can be financially damaging for facilities. Fortunately, they’re preventable if you know what to look for and where.

All too often, fire sprinkler freeze-ups go unnoticed until there’s a problem like a leak, broken sprinkler head, impaired valve, or worse a pipe burst. This can be extremely expensive because the damage can be widespread. It can affect electrical systems, furniture, carpeting, and just about anything the water touches. But even those that take all the common precautionary steps can miss something due to an unusual situation.

The common precautionary steps include keeping thermostats no lower than 40 degrees if pipes are subject to the cold make sure to insulate them, schedule routine inspections and testing, check on systems regularly when temperatures fall below freezing, and etc. It’s the rare types of situations that get facilities in trouble, like when work occurs. If contractors turn off the heat in an area or temporarily remove insulation, monitor the temperature. When they complete the work double check to ensure that they replaced the insulation and turn the heat on. Once in a while, someone may open a window and forget to close it. This can allow enough cold air in to cause a nearby fire sprinkler to freeze. The best way to combat this is to remind people to close windows and check windows yourself. You may not be able to prepare for every scenario, but you can keep track of what’s going on in the facility. If there’s a situation evaluate it to see whether it will affect the fire sprinkler system.

Freeze-ups can cause large financial damages for facilities and affect more than just the fire sprinkler system. It’s essential to take all the common precautionary measures in order to prevent a freeze up. But even if you take those steps, you must be observant and think about how different situations could cause a fire sprinkler freeze-up.

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