Sprinkler System for Potential Fires

I did a search using "sprinkler" and did not come up with anything along the lines that I am thinking.

My hand fired coal stove has arrived at my dealer and I hope to have it installed and in use soon.

My situation, I have an electric heat pump (w/electric aux. heat). In my living room I have a pellet stove insert (ranch house with full basement). I will be installing the coal stove in the basement venting into the chimney.

Currently when I am at work I turn the pellet stove off and allow the heat pump to keep the house at 60F. I fire up the pellets when I get home.

Stored in my basement are over 1/2 dozen motorcycles (w/gasoline in tanks), a small quad, and a pressure washer (both w/gas in their tank).

Currently there are two tons of wood pellets in the basement too. A couple friends stopped over this weekend and I showed them where the coal stove was going to be. One of them jokingly said "So are you gonna get a sprinkler system installed next ?" I told him I thought that was a good idea. So, is it ?

I know you don't want to put water directly on a coal fire as the water will wreck havoc once it hits the coal and turns to steam, but the sprinklers would be in the "room" where the stove will be and I would probably run a line with 2 sprinkler heads in the room with the bikes. The stove is separated from the bikes with only a stud/wood paneling wall.

I plan on putting Durock on the stove side of the dividing wall. There is probably 20" clearance from the stove to that wall but some of the bikes are pretty close to the other side of that wall.

My water supply is a residential well 20 GPM with a 12 gallon holding tank.

Any thoughts, suggestions, warnings, etc. would be appreciated. I did find a web site all about residential sprinkler systems. I figure mine whould simply be a charged copper pipe run on the joists with probably 3 or 4 heads...?

The coal stove is the least of your worries. Get the gas tanks OUT of the basement.

Vehicles and gasoline in the same room as the stove!

Yeah, one leaky fuel line and,.....Kaboom! Not a good idea.

First off, if you have a gasoline fire, a water sprinkler system likely won't contain it. It might even make it worse. You'll need a Halon system, or CO2 system, which is expensive.

And, if you ever have a problem and your insurance company finds out you were storing gas vehicles in the basement of your house, . . you may find yourself without insurance when you need it most !!!!!!!!!!

I agree with the guys above, gas powered anything should not be stored in a dwelling. Especially below a living space.

Paul

Carbon12 wrote:Yeah, one leaky fuel line and,.....Kaboom! Not a good idea.

Doesn't need a leak at all.

The natural evaporation pressure of gasoline at room temps will push it out tank vents and evaporate it out of carb vents too.

Gasoline being heavier than air, it will sink down, mix with the cold air at floor level, condensing it more, and get drawn right toward the stove by natural convection.

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote:

Carbon12 wrote:Yeah, one leaky fuel line and,.....Kaboom! Not a good idea.

Doesn't need a leak at all.

The natural evaporation pressure of gasoline at room temps will push it out tank vents and evaporate it out of carb vents too.

Gasoline being heavier than air, it will sink down, mix with the cold air at floor level, condensing it more, and get drawn right toward the stove by natural convection.

Paul

And then...

Sunny Boy wrote:

Carbon12 wrote:Yeah, one leaky fuel line and,.....Kaboom! Not a good idea.

Doesn't need a leak at all.

The natural evaporation pressure of gasoline at room temps will push it out tank vents and evaporate it out of carb vents too.

Gasoline being heavier than air, it will sink down, mix with the cold air at floor level, condensing it more, and get drawn right toward the stove by natural convection.

Paul

I have seen it happen first hand when I was a youngster. My friends grandfather almost lost his house with a gas can it got bumped stirred the fumes and woooof. There were a few bags of concrete we threw on it to put it out luckily.

Thanks guys ! Honestly I didn't think it was that dangerous but it did cause me some concern. That is why I took my friend's "joke" seriously.

I am going to go through with the purchase of the stove but will not burn it until the bikes are out of the basement. Unfortunately that won't happen until springtime. I have a slight hill between the basement "garage" door and the actual garage so no riding up a frozen snowy yard to get there. Of course it will take garage cleaning and rearranging. But, I am so glad I posted the question and your concerns seem valid and I will take your advice.

Thanks again...quite possibly saved my house, bikes and perhaps life !

Get the gas out of the basement period.

Two incidents I have responded to as a volunteer fireman.
1. A gentlemen was working on his motorcycle in his basement. Gasoline fumes hit the pilot light on the water heater. Kaboom. Burned a large percentage of the clothes off of his body, not to mention his skin.

2. Another gentlemen decided to park his motorcycle on his enclosed back porch. A very minor gas leak developed when he was away. Came back and hit the light switch and voo-sh. Fire engulfed the back porch and made it's way into the house by the time we got there. No more house.

The vapors are heavier than air and will build up to dangerous levels before your nose detects them.