Frequently asked questions

Questions

1. How is Automist triggered?
2. Will the system suffer from false alarms?
3. How does water mist work?
4. Can you use Automist on a chip pan fire?
5. What happens when it goes off?
6. Will building control accept it as a compensatory measure?
7. How much does it cost to install?
8. What maintenance is required?
9. How big a problem are fires in the kitchen?
10. How does Automist compare to other types of domestic fire protection?
11. Can I integrate Automist with an existing alarm system?
12. What does Automist offer landlords and social housing organisations?
13. Is Plumis a members of any trade associations?
14. Does Automist comply with the Water Regulations?
15. Will Automist fit with my tap?
16. What is the maximum room size a single Automist unit can protect?

Answers

1. How is Automist triggered?

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Automist is triggered by an industry standard 57°C heat alarm. Heat alarms can either be mains or battery powered and must have a relay output either via a wireless or wired connection.

2. Will the system suffer from false alarms?

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A correctly installed heat alarm will reliably trigger Automist and should supplement household existing smoke alarms which can provide an additional warning of fire. Heat alarms give an audible warning when the temperature at the alarm reaches 57°C and, unlike conventional smoke alarms, will not be triggered by burning the toast, steam from cooking, or a car's exhaust fumes.

3. How does water mist work?

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When water is driven through a specialised nozzle at very high pressures (in Automist's case around 80 bar), the water is atomised to produce a fine mist or fog. Water mist removes heat from the fire and displaces oxygen from the fire zone, resulting in fire control, suppression or extinguishment. The intention is to reduce the oxygen concentration around the flame, lower the temperature and lessen the radiative heat to such an extent that combustion can be longer be maintained, thus reducing damage and maintaining survivable conditions.

4. Can you use Automist on a chip pan fires?

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High-pressure water mist has proven itself highly effective in protecting deep fat fryers for many years, and is regarded as a very clean way to address the problem. Traditional thinking says that you do not use water to extinguish an oil fire, because bulk water sinks below the oil and boils, ejecting burning oil into the room. The very fine droplets produced by Automist are small enough to be carried by thermal air currents, however. Rather than sinking below the oil, they are drawn into the flame where they suppress the fire.

5. What happens when it goes off?

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In the event of a fire, Automist is programmed to run continuously for 30 minutes or while the alarm input remains active, whichever is the longer. This prevents interruption of mist operation if the room temperature drops below 57°C while a fire is still present. For installations where a fire panel will be controlling Automist, it may be set to operate only while its alarm input remains active.

Automist uses approximately 10% of the water of a traditional sprinkler system, running at approximately 5.5 lpm, and therefore minimises consequential water damage and runoff. The system can be stopped at any time by pressing a button on the control unit.

6. Will building control accept it as a compensatory measure?

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Automist’s suitability as a compensatory measure must be judged on a case by case basis and is subject to Building Control approval.

Send us an email with your layout plans attached and our Accredited Resellers can quickly determine whether Automist is suitable for your premises. We can then provide you with a layout recommendation and a covering letter on Automist's suitability, as part of our free Automist Specification Service (worth £69.99). This letter can often be the starting point for a dialogue with building control, before directing them to the technical data provided within the "Automist Technical Guide" so the inspector can make up his or her own mind.

Together with our partners we can help you justify the use of Automist to your Building Control Officer. Certain layouts may require a custom fire engineered justification. We can provide a "formal statement of suitability" or a "technical evaluation and fire development simulation" from a third party fire engineer.

For more details on this service, please contact the Accredited Reseller in your area.

7. How much does it cost to install?

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Installation is often significantly cheaper than that of a traditional home fire sprinkler system.
Automist must be installed by one of our Accredited Resellers and can take as little as 2 hours.

8. What maintenance is required?

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Automist should be commissioned annually. Commissioning is a simple programmed procedure which allows Automist to be tested, during which the pump runs for approximately 20 seconds and the output pressure is monitored. A rubber shield is provided to direct the resulting spray into the sink, and our instructions give guidance on testing where the installation is not at a sink.

9. How big a problem are fires in the kitchen?

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In the UK alone there are 300,000 dwelling fires each year: 60% of these start in the kitchen. Little real impact has been made in reducing domestic fire property losses despite public and private sector fire safety campaigns. Student housing, care homes for the elderly, sheltered accomodation and flats with shared kitchens are all high risk categories. UK Government research suggests that socially deprived households are 31 times more likely to suffer fires than households in general.

10. How does Automist compare to other types of domestic fire protection?

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Click the following link for more information on how Automist compares to other types of domestic fire protection.

11. Can I integrate Automist with an existing alarm system?

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Automist can be interconnected with many existing alarm systems, including the use of manual call points, however some caution is required. Where an existing system includes smoke alarms, it will not normally be desirable to trigger Automist when these alarms are activated. Ei/Aico alarms provide sufficient flexibility to allow Automist to be activated only by the relay base of an interconnected heat alarm, and not when the other alarms sound. Other manufacturers may not offer this level of flexibility.

Where a fire alarm panel is used, Automist can be driven from a volt-free relay output or as an additional sounder: in the latter case the control unit has a 9-24V DC input and draws a quiescent current in monitoring status for easy integration.

Automist's manual activation feature allows early activation of the unit but is not a full substitute for a functional manual call point, as it provides early activation of Automist but does not have the capability to sound external alarms.

12. What does Automist offer landlords and social housing organisations?

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Landlords have duties to assess and manage fire risks under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Housing Act 2004. It is a criminal offence not to comply with this legislation, punishable by large fines or prison sentences.

The risk assessment process introduced by the legislation is designed to highlight issues with the property such as poor escape routes, or likely factors around residents such as the inability to self-rescue or early-stage dementia. The legislation requires that reasonable measures be taken to mitigate such risks. Automist can be used to reduce the scale of the fire, slow its development and to give residents time to escape or to be helped to escape.

Designed for ease of retrofit, Automist can be installed without major disruption. When installed in the course of a major refurbishment project, the advantage is twofold: disruption is minimised, and volume pricing offers exceptional value.

13. Is Plumis a members of any trade associations?

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Plumis are registered members of The Federation Of Master Builders. FMB members work to a strict code of practice which they commit to every year when they renew their membership. The code of practice covers their relationship with customers throughout the building process. The FMB is a trade association established over 60 years ago to protect the interests of small and medium-sized building firms – today it is the largest trade association in the UK building industry.

Click below for more information:

The Federation of Master Builders

The Federation Of Master Builders code of conduct

14. Does Automist comply with the Water Regulations?

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Automist is WRAS Approved. It has been examined, tested and found, when correctly installed, to comply with the requirements of the United Kingdom Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations/Scottish Water Byelaws.

15. Will Automist fit with my monobloc tap?

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Automist has been designed to be compatible with the vast majority of monobloc taps (45 – 60 mm diameter base) that fit into a standard 35 mm sink or work surface hole.

Monobloc taps are affixed to the worktop using a stud bar, which may be at the front or rear of the tap dependent on the tap model:

a) Front stud configuration (CODE 4NF - Automist with 4 nozzles, front facing stud)

b) Rear stud configuration (CODE 4NB - Automist with 4 nozzles, back facing stud)

Automist is compatible with either configuration. Monobloc taps which have two studs, instead of one, at either the front or the back can also be used with either configuration.

Automist can also be installed on a flat work surface without a monobloc tap using a blanking plate.

16. What is the maximum room size a single Automist unit can protect?

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A single Automist unit was tested by BRE in a volume of up to 80 cubic metres (8 x 4 x 2.5 m) with fire hazards up to 5m away. The spray head should therefore be within 5m of and in the approximate line of sight of any possible fire hazard. Performance data is also available for some variations of this rule, where automatic door closers can be provided.

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