Bad night for ML's neighbors

[Monsterlover]

[Le Pirate]

Keep one in the kitchen and one in the garage.


The place I work does something pretty cool. Every year they have a fire extinguisher service(r?)/guy/something....company. THERE! come out and check the 20 or so we have on site. They have everyone bring in their personal extinguishers and pay to have them checked out/recharged if needed. Kind of a cool thing to do for your employees 



(though, they also don't give christmas bonuses  )

[Johnny OrganDonor]

For what they cost vs what they can save, they're cheap "insurance."

You should have a couple of "ABC" class fire extinguishers stashed around the house. One is, well, not enough. 

In addition, you should have a small Halon fire extinguisher somewhere in the kitchen, but not on/next to the stove. On top of the fridge is a good place. You want it someplace where you can see your stove on fire, turn and grab it without burning yourself, turn back and spray.

Also: smoke detectors. Check the batteries. G'head. I'll wait.

Do it again this time next year.

Very good advice.  Especially checking smoke detectors.  A house fire can be fully involved inside of 10 minutes depending on the structure and fuel load.

[mitt]

Another good fire prevention tool is arc fault circuit breakers...

Good reminder ML to check out our dwellings.

mitt

[Speedbag]

About a week ago I realized that I only have one extinguisher on the property. I made a mental note to score a couple more, but have not heeded said mental note.

Thanks for the timely reminder.....

[Monsterlover]

Another good fire prevention tool is arc fault circuit breakers...

Good reminder ML to check out our dwellings.

mitt

What's an arc fault breaker?

Side note: pa building codes have changed this year to include sprinkler systems in all new residential home construction. Cost is 5-10k extra.

[ducatiz]

What's an arc fault breaker?

Side note: pa building codes have changed this year to include sprinkler systems in all new residential home construction. Cost is 5-10k extra.

interesting.  shouldn't be that much more expensive, but i don't know the specifics of the law.

[herm]

just to reinforce what has already been stated. GET some fire extinguishers. and LEARN how to use them. its not enough to simply shoot the extinguisher in the general direction of the fire.

What's an arc fault breaker?

AFCI breakers are designed to reduce/eliminate the chance of a non working arc occurring. here in Maine they are required by code for all "living space" rooms.

from wikipedia- An Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) is a circuit breaker designed to prevent fires by detecting a non-working (i.e., non-intended/non-useful) electrical arc and disconnecting the power before the arc starts a fire. An AFCI should, but may not always, distinguish between a working arc that may occur in the brushes of a vacuum cleaner, on operation of a light switch, on insertion / removal of a plug into an electrical receptacle, or during the operation of other household devices and a non-working arc that can occur â€" for example a lamp cord that has a broken conductor in the cord from overuse. Arc faults in a home are one of the leading causes for household fires.

they are twice as expensive, and there is an ongoing debate as to whether they actually do anything beneficial.

[Howie]

What's an arc fault breaker?

Side note: pa building codes have changed this year to include sprinkler systems in all new residential home construction. Cost is 5-10k extra.

Think of an arc fault breaker as a smart circuit breaker.  A conventional circuit breaker only senses excessive amperage draw in the circuit.  An arc fault breaker has a logic circuit that will pick up arcing, but is (allegedly) smart enough to distinguish between the harmless arc that happens when you turn on your vacuum cleaner and the arc from the broken wire you were silly enough to run under your highly flammable rug.

Ah, Herm beat me to it

[ducpainter]

What is the definition of 'living space'?

There is a reason there is a provision in the code to eliminate refrigerator dedicated circuits from the gfci requirement in a kitchen.

Let's hope they see the folly of installing a device that may or may not see the starting of a fan or compressor on a refrigerator or freezer for what it is.

[mitt]

What is the definition of 'living space'?

There is a reason there is a provision in the code to eliminate refrigerator dedicated circuits from the gfci requirement in a kitchen.

Let's hope they see the folly of installing a device that may or may not see the starting of a fan or compressor on a refrigerator or freezer for what it is.

The NEC 2008 (or 2011, I can't remember) now doesn't differentiate fridge in other parts of the house.  The idea is the technology has gotten robust enough to eliminate nuissance tripping.  Which is true 99.9% of the time, but if your fridge is that 0.1% that is slightly different than what has been designed and tested to, you are going to be a unhappy camper.  This would go for in the garage or the basement.


A couple links:

definition of spaces
http://www.afcisafety.org/codes.html

state by state NEC code adoption
http://www.afcisafety.org/codeMap.html


mitt

[Speedbag]

just to reinforce what has already been stated. GET some fire extinguishers. and LEARN how to use them. its not enough to simply shoot the extinguisher in the general direction of the fire.

+1

Aim for the base of the flame! 

Years ago I went through a company-sponsored fire training course for the workplace at the time. They started out small, a grease fire in a pan on a stovetop, gradually moving up in size and severity with an extinguisher to match.

Final test was a pool of water about 8' or so across, onto which they poured gasoline. That one actually got a little scary with wind, and the fact that you had to get close enough to feel the heat. It was a great learning experience.

[mitt]

and there is an ongoing debate as to whether they actually do anything beneficial.

Got any material to support that or is it just opinion and hear say?  The technology and science is pretty sound, and I would rather have them in my house than not.



mitt

[ducpainter]

The NEC 2008 (or 2011, I can't remember) now doesn't differentiate fridge in other parts of the house.  The idea is the technology has gotten robust enough to eliminate nuissance tripping.  Which is true 99.9% of the time, but if your fridge is that 0.1% that is slightly different than what has been designed and tested to, you are going to be a unhappy camper.  This would go for in the garage or the basement.


A couple links:

definition of spaces
http://www.afcisafety.org/codes.html

state by state NEC code adoption
http://www.afcisafety.org/codeMap.html


mitt

Still looks like the kitchen is not required for afci's, and up until when I stopped being a wire monkey there was still language in the code that exempted dedicated single receptacle circuits, like for a fridge or freezer, in the kitchen or basement from gfci's.

They may have changed it, but I'll ask the inspector. He's the only one that matters.

[lethe]

or you can have a house like mine made from some wood from hell that termites die if they try to eat it, gives me a headache if I cut it and probably doesn't burn too well.

Nate's house is probably made of the same stuff and it will kill us all when we burn it.