Fire Extinguishers: An Essential Home Equipment

If you are a homeowner, a fire extinguisher is one of the most significant home improvement and safety equipment you can ever have around your home. From the lawn to the garage and kitchen fires can start, intentionally or accidently, in any part of the home. While the hot summers are especially characterized by elevated risks to fires breaking out within your home, fires can start at any time of the year even during the cold winter months. If not handled effectively, you can be left counting losses in property damages and probably a litany of litigations if the fire gets out of hand and spreads to other properties and areas within your neighborhood. Therefore, the key to avoid such problems and ensuring that your property meets the local home safety regulations, always ensure that you have a fully functional and serviced fire extinguisher on a standby within your home.

Tips for Maintaining Your Home Fire Extinguisher

To void feeling exasperated when you want to put out a fire in your home and you are confronted with a broken discharge hose, jammed operating levers or a pressure indicator reading zero, carry out the following fire extinguisher maintenance exercises:

Visually inspect your fire extinguisher: Before seeking the help of a fire extinguisher tacoma wa, carry your own visual inspection. Document dents, jammed, broken and malfunctioning parts. Ensure the gauge needle aligns to the pressure reading. Know the type and charge of your extinguisher: Fire extinguishers and their chargers are categorized based on their capacity and the fire hazards they are most suitable to handle.

Accessibility is key: It is futile to have a fully functional fire extinguisher if it is inaccessible or visible during a fire incident. Keep a written record of fire extinguisher inspection to ensure that you don’t miss your monthly inspection. The inspection tag will come in handy when it comes to keeping up to date the maintenance schedule.

Factors to Consider When Shopping for a Fire Extinguisher

Before you pop into your favorite home equipment store to cart away a fire extinguisher, consider the following factors: Budget: It is also advisable to work with a budget range when shopping around for a fire extinguisher. Avoid the temptation of buying a cheaper knockoff extinguisher that will prove to be more of a hazard in your home than preventing the intended hazard. Moreover, avoid equating high prices for quality.

Know your fire extinguishing needs: Your fire extinguishing needs will correspond to the type of fire extinguisher you purchaser. Therefore, if you are a homeowner you are better off purchasing a multi-purpose fire extinguisher such as Types A, B and C.

Understand the weight of your fire extinguisher of choice to ensure that it matches the strength of the mounting platform and location where it would be used. Kitchen or laundry room fire extinguishers should always be light and easy to grab. If you intend to use your extinguisher in your car, always go for light extinguishers weighing not more than 2 pounds.

Understanding your fire extinguishing needs will determine your budget and the type of fire extinguisher you end up with. Once you purchase your extinguisher, always ensure that it is frequently serviced and maintained to avoid malfunctions.

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