I have a client who owns multiple assisted living facilities. It's residential construction with attic insulation on the roof trusses' bottom chord, and louvered gable ends with ridge vents.
They have existing wet pipe sprinkler systems in the attic and have experienced busted sprinkler lines in the past. They want to heat the attics to prevent this with electric heaters. I have done the heat loss calculations and have determined the heating load would be more than their current electrical service can support. The only options I see available are heat trace, anti-freeze, or conversion to a dry system. Anti-freeze with UL-listed anti-freeze was my first thought, but it looks like a backflow preventer would have to be added. Does anyone have experience with this and/or have recommendations on how to address this? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe
10 Comments
Pete H
10/4/2024 07:09:21 am
You pretty much nailed the options I'd see.
Reply
Daryl Lovejoy
10/4/2024 10:35:57 am
Don't forget pipe will all have to be pitched on a dry system in accordance with NFPA 13 !
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Dan Wilder
10/4/2024 07:53:29 am
Most AHJ's/Water purveyors require a Reduced Pressure Backflow when the water downstream is being introduced with any chemicals, FYI. This can push a tight calc into not being accepted with the additional PSI loss.
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Brett
10/4/2024 07:57:38 am
I concur with Pete's comment but I'd also like to add that the existing piping material could cause a wrinkle. If the piping in the attic is plastic and the intent is to reuse as much pipe as possible, then a dry system is out of the question and for heat trace you would need to make sure the cable is listed to protect plastic piping.
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Jimmy
10/4/2024 08:50:09 am
Sounds like you need to upgrade the system completely.
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Jonathan Griffin
10/4/2024 09:33:37 am
I would suspect that your Wet Pipe system serves the rooms/areas below the ceiling, not the Attic. The order of consideration here is:
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Glenn Berger
10/4/2024 09:44:42 am
You got the options stated correctly. I would recommend the heat trace system as long as power is deemed reliable.
Reply
Dave
10/4/2024 10:52:19 am
And for branch lines, using heat-tracing specifically listed for use on branch lines. (NFPA '19, #16.4.1.4.1)
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Jack G
10/4/2024 07:17:44 pm
Dave and Glenn have the best options.
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Todd E Wyatt
10/7/2024 08:41:44 am
You may consider checking the attic exemptions for providing an automatic sprinkler system (ASPS) in a Group I-1 Assisted Living Facility per the scoping Code (e.g. IBC-2021) :
Reply
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