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Installing Halon Fire Supression System at Home?
swmagazine asks: "The house my family is building just burn down 2 weeks before competition. Now that the insurance is paying out some money, I am seriously considering installing Halon system at home because the house comes with a server room and I will be having at least 10 computers running in the house. I would like to know if anyone has experience with Halon system as well as the feasibility of installing such system at home." The possibility that your computer could conceivably be a fire hazard is extremely low on newer machines. Older machines, without the proper protection, may overheat, and that might cause problems. Might such a system minimize the damage posed by a house-fire, or are they too expensive (or too ineffective) for the average home owner?
That's really a brilliant idea, and it would be fairly cheap to do. Or you could make a special closet. The entire server closet could be made from cinder blocks, including the floor and ceiling. Put a fireproof door on it, make a rule that only computers (no paper or anything flammable) goes in the server closet. Should be about as safe and cheap as anything for the home. It could even be build in a corner of a garage.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
Or, if you're looking for something that will be a tad bit easier to clean up and will have less collateral damage - why not just a regular ABC Dry chemical (monoammonium phosphate) system? It's fairly cheap, readily available and pretty safe.
Or what about plain old CO2?
=Smidge=
I was wrong about the cost too. It's something like $4 per square foot. OK, that's thousands for a medium-sized home. But considering the cost of a home, and the possible benefits...
They're only useful if you're around to use them, and use them quickly. I think the rule is that if you don't catch a fire within three minutes of it starting, you should get the fuck out and call the fire department. Those suckers spread fast.
They're only got for 3 or 4 years, then you have to replace them. Come to think of it, all mine probably need replacing!
> equipment in case you were in the server room when the system discharged.
I can attest to this fact myself.
Oh, nonsense. This is clueless, not insightful.
If a fire broke out in the server room, first a very bright red light would turn on in the room, followed by rapid beeping
Main reason for this is so you can abort the discharge in the event of false alarm. Every halon system I've ever been around (three of 'em) has had at least one false discharge in it's life.
After 15 seconds of THAT warning, a ear-piercing alarm would sound off in the room, and I mean ear-piercingly loud and high-pitched. A light would also turn on over the door to the server room with a sign reading "DO NOT ENTER -- HALON IN USE" near it. That's phase two.
That's because if you open the door, you let the halon out and provide fresh oxygen to a (presumably) active fire, not because the halon is dangerous. Jeez.
At phase three, if you're still in the room, you're either now burning to death or suffocating, or both.
Well, if you're standing around in a burning room, you're a moron, but if you're suffocating, it's not because of a 10% halon concentration. I have stood in the middle of a computer room during an inadvertent halon discharge (maintenance guy screwed up during the annual system test), and it's a total non-event (except for being very loud, and every single loose dust particle and piece of paper in the room flying around!).
halon is un-breathable.
Depends on what you mean by "un-breathable."
I've walked around in a couple of rooms immediately after Halon tests, with no ill side effects. The first time was specifically monitored by pulmonary/blood specialists to detect harmful chemicals entering the body. From what I could determine from reading their raw reports, nothing did. That was a standard 7% Halon discharge.
The second time was at a company with a really stupid manager who just had to test every part of his new DR plan. In that one the local fire department got involved, so all their firemen could stand around inside and see what occured during a discharge. Walked inside about 20 seconds after the discharge to a room full of white mist, it was a full 10% flood fill test. No side effects from that, except for a pesky hole in the ozone layer which is still following me around today.
The firemen and doctors both pointed out the nasty effects of HF and HBr on the body, and how long and painful the treatment is. Damage to bone structure is permanent, lungs tend to stay scarred, etc. Which is why if you have a Halon discharge into a room with a big, hot fire, its very wise to hold your breath and do everything you can to get to fresh air. Cleanup crews for several days afterwards will have to wear full protective gear until they can neutralise all the HF.
However, there is usually enough oxygen in computer room installations, even with a fire, to breathe long enough to get outside. Inside of U.S. military tanks, the Halon concentration is typically 50%-70%, complete overkill but maybe necessary under battle conditions where turning off aircon, power, and engines would lead to a very dead crew very quickly.
There are quite a few replacements for Halon, none as ruthlessly efficient, but mostly cheaper and all better for the environment.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on