Bushfires Put Focus On Fire Sprinklers

Claims by a couple giving evidence at the Royal Commission into the Victorian Bushfires that their copper fire sprinklers saved their lives and home is putting a new focus on the systems for home protection.

While bushfires are often an intense, one off event, residential fires are a continual problem and cause around 110 deaths in Australia each year. Most of those deaths are from smoke inhalation, not burns, and the vast majority occurs in homes without smoke detectors.

While detectors are becoming increasingly mandatory in new homes and apartments-around 80 percent of properties now have them-performance can be an issue and research in the UK found that only 13% of dwelling fires there are discovered by smoke alarms.

Residential sprinkler systems are increasingly being seen as an important back-up given that they are highly reliable devices that are triggered by heat-in fact US research has shown that only 1 in 16 million heads ever activates by accident.

Unlike smoke alarms, sprinklers can actively begin suppressing a fire once activated and also have the advantage of being connectable to alarm monitoring companies or an external alarm.

Copper systems have one of the best reputations in that market given their ability to withstand high temperatures, resistance to corrosion, durability and low leak issues.

It’s not known whether the Victorian Commission will make any recommendations about residential fire sprinkler systems in their Final Report, but a number of people have spoken about copper piping during the hearings and it’s clear that home fire protection will be an important issue to address.

Cost, Say Builders, Is Less Of An Issue

Almost two thirds of builders say they prefer to use copper regardless of cost according to new Australian research.

The annual survey-which was undertaken by the Housing Industry Association-found that the preference to use copper had doubled in just two years.

While the prices of copper systems have come much closer to the top plastic systems in recent years, the findings point to the continuing perception among builders that copper represents value for money.

In fact the sentiment appeared to be so strong that almost half of those who prefer to use copper would continue to do so even if prices rose.

While quality seems to be playing a major part in the positive outlook, there’s also a growing interest in how copper and plastic perform environmentally, with copper being seen as more sustainable.

Solar Gets Boost From Copper

Copper is at the heart of solar hot water and new research shows that installation in Australian homes keeps on rising.

A lot of people are realizing that grid-based power to heat water doesn’t make a lot of sense any more given the cost and energy savings a solar system can deliver.

In fact it’s estimated that electric and gas hot water systems account for approximately 20% of a household's greenhouse gas emissions here. Saving on energy bills-up to 75 percent in some reports-is also a powerful reason, particularly as electricity costs are expecteeed to rise steeply over the next decade.

Studies in India suggest that a solar water heating system can pay back its costs in just two years and will pay for itself 5 times over in about twenty years. No wonder India seems to be taking solar much more seriously these days and with some cities making it mandatory for new buildings.

Here the two most common types of collectors used in a solar hot water system are flat plate and evacuated tube.
Both use copper piping because of its ability to handle temperatures and perform for long periods of time. And of course you can recycle it once it needs replacing.

There are now hundreds of companies making these systems and with generous subsidies on offer it’s time to turn on the hot water.

US Replacing Leaking Pipes With Copper

Public utilities in the US have been tackling hundreds of leaking polybutylene pipes by replacing it with copper according to recent press reports.

In Coweta County, Georgia, the local Water and Sewerage Authority has been able to cut “unaccounted water” loss by about 30 percent because of an aggressive program of leak detection and faulty pipe replacement.

“From January through November of 2008, the authority's "unaccounted for water" was at 16 percent,” General Manager Ellis Cadenhead was reported in the media as saying. “That's down from 48.13 percent in 2007, but I hope it will drop even further for the year," Cadenhead said.

Last year the authority embarked on a leak detection program and the systematic replacement of faulty polybutylene pipe with copper.

The success of the program is best evidenced by how many leaks the leak detection department found in December-just three.

Australian Wins World Plumbing Medal

NSW apprentice, Tyson Knight, took out the Silver in Plumbing at the recent International WorldSkills Competition in Canada.

Knight’s win was the highest ever achieved by an Australian and it was his performance in the copper component-12 hours of soft and hard soldering-that won him the medal he says.

“I gained a lot of experience with copper throughout my apprenticeship in industrial and commercial plumbing,” says Tyson. “I used it every day and enjoyed working with it.”

Head Plumbing Teacher, Bruce Lennon, at Sutherland College, Gymea Campus, where Tyson learnt his trade, witnessed the hard work and dedication his student put in leading up to WorldSkills.

“He quit his full-time job and took on a part-time position to enable him to come into college two days a week to train and practice for what he had to do overseas”

The WorldSkills competition represents 51 member countries worldwide and was established in 1950-with Australia competing every year since 1988. Gold, silver and bronze medals are up for grabs across 45 skill categories.

Tyson was invited to compete at WorldSkills International after demonstrating his talent on the national stage-first winning Victorian Apprentice of the Year and the top award at the national WorldSkills competition.

He had to undertake four days of competition in a range of plumbing skill categories and was up against 23 competitors from around the world.

Copper VS Plastic?

Deciding which material is best for the job is not always easy, but as this overview proves, copper’s got some clear advantages.

When it comes to reliability and durability, copper has more than proved its worth. Its excellent corrosion resistance and leak-proof jointing system means that well-installed copper plumbing will last for over 50 years.

An extraordinary example of copper’s lifetime warranty was discovered in 1994 when archaeologists excavating the remains of a 4,500-year-old Egyptian funerary pyramid unearthed a sophisticated copper drainage system – with its copper pipes still intact!

With the costs of copper and plastic systems getting closer in recent years, plumbers are telling us that there are now other issues in play when it comes to choosing copper tubing has over pex, polybutylene, PVC and other non-copper tube products:

Leak proof
The threaded joints of plastic plumbing are prone to leaks and corrosion, whereas copper plumbing is joined by a soldering process that is fast, simple and leak-proof. After the completion of the joint, a pressure test is conducted to check for weaknesses – helping ensure a completely leak proof joint.

Plumbers who have not worked with copper sometimes mistakenly believe that soldering is a highly skilled job beyond their capabilities, when in fact it simply requires a basic level of training.

Rust proof
Copper is corrosion resistant, which means that not only will copper pipes last for a long time, but the water flowing through them won’t turn brown when the pipes age.

Bendable
Unlike plastic pipes, copper pipes can be easily bent, which reduces the number of fittings required and thus the overall cost.

Antimicrobial
Research has shown the copper is the only piping material that has the ability to substantially reduce e-coli and nutrient dependant bacteria, including the fatal legionella virus. Not only is copper impermeable (contaminants like solvents, toxins and insecticides don’t penetrate it), copper surfaces actually inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria.

It is sometimes mistakenly believed that the green layer that forms on copper is harmful to health, when in fact it is a naturally occurring protective copper oxide layer called ‘patina’. Patina is non toxic and doesn’t affect the quality of water.

Heat conductor
Since copper is a good conductor of heat, it is well suited to hot water lines. Unlike plastics, copper pipes have low-coefficient of linear expansion, which means that a change in temperature doesn’t bring about any great expansion or contraction.

Vermin proof
Rats can’t eat through copper, whereas they are quite partial to the odd meal of plastic. Houses have been flooded from rats eating through the plastic tubing, and homeowners have been left to foot the bill after discovering that standard home insurance doesn’t cover vermin damage.

Weather proof
Copper tube is ideal for any outdoor application because it does not degrade from direct sunlight or become brittle with age.

A Plumber Talks Copper

“When it comes tousing copper in construction it’s not just the norm, for me it’s the best material”……well that’s the opinion of one US plumber speaking online.

We know that plumbers don’t get a lot of time to check out all the resources available on the web, but there’s now a lot of fast and easy options around.

Here in Australia you can go to copper.com.au and find pretty much everything you need to work with copper. We’re also at twitter.com/copperlife and you can ask anything you need answered or let us know just what your experiences with copper have been.

The US plumber talking above did just that on the US site and you can take a look at what else he had to say on coppertalk.org/?p=473