Turns out Northampton stupid-visors did something wrong (and dumb) again. They passed a dubious Home Sprinkler Ordinance telling us it was “State Law”. It wasn’t. The law did not go into effect yet and it may be delayed or stopped. See the Courier artice 11/15/2010.
The township manager announced he has been following the new ordinance even though it had not yet been enacted. Where does the township get the power to apply and enforce their ideas on sprinklers? Maybe they don’t really have the legal basis to do it. Quo Warranto?
Mandatory Sprinklers are opposed by many people and lots of associations because they do not put out fires. They delay them. Smoke detectors work sooner, faster and better to alert people. Sprinklers provide no warning. They dump water after the fire is established and the ceiling temp gets high enough. Smoke detectors go off far earlier and are safer and cheaper than mandatory sprinklers. Multiple Fire Extinguishers especially near the kitchen stove and oven can safely put out fires far less expensively than the politicians who pass dumb sprinkler laws that are also unconstitutional. The Twin Towers had sprinkler systems.
Early alert smoke detectors are safer than Sprinklers according to Doug Mershaw who said: “The system’s been corrupted,” Doug is an official of the Pennsylvania Builders Association
The builders association currently is suing the state Department of Labor & Industry to undo the rules. “Sprinklers are absolutely not necessary,” he said.
Sprinklers are therefore more dangerous than smoke detectors. Sprinklers are extremely expensive. In Northampton where wells are used it may cost over $25,000 to install because a seperate water pressure system must be designed and built in addition to the dubious sprinklers. I publically warned the supervisors last year but they voted to put the ordinance on the books. Stupid.
A broken sprinkler pipe can cause expensive damage. In Erie water damage from a broken pipe cost $1.3 million dollars to repair, according to an 11/15/2010 report by the Associated Press published in the Courier Times. $1.3 million to repair a water damaged school building.
Inspection of a sprinkler system is an ongoing cost to a homeowner and a revenue stream for Northampton. Repair of a sprinkler head is impossible for a homewner because the repair parts are controlled by a cartel and kept ridiculously high because they control the parts business. Home Depot has no sprinkler parts so they are out of the stream of commerce, which is how government, unfortunately operates. Non-Profit means No Control by the citizens.
Smoke and fire detectors save lives. Sprinklers are designed to save property.
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