What to Consider When Purchasing a Fire Extinguisher

The United States sees several thousand deaths per year as a result of fire accidents. While there are plenty of steps you should take to prevent fires from occurring in the first place, sometimes fires will start anyway, and this can be unfortunately quite unpredictable. This is why it’s important to have fire extinguishers on hand in addition to whatever fire prevention methods you’ve taken—if a fire does start, the extinguisher can help you put it out quickly.

But when you’re investigating fire extinguisher sales in Longview, TX, what are the most important considerations for you to keep in mind? Here’s a quick overview.

Type of extinguisher

There are two main categories of extinguishers: rechargeable and disposable. Rechargeable extinguishers are heavy and can be reused after they’ve been serviced, while disposable extinguishers are lighter and are only meant to be used once. The latter must be replaced after the pin is pulled.

Extinguisher purpose

As a general rule, it’s a good idea to have one fire extinguisher located on each floor. Make sure you select the extinguisher based on the kind of fire that’s most likely to occur in each area. There are extinguishers designed to be used with ordinary materials like paper, plastics, wood or clothing. Other extinguishers are designed to be used with flammable liquids (grease or oil-based paints), electrical equipment (tools, appliances or motors), flammable metals (aluminum, magnesium, potassium) or cooking fats. Other multi-purpose extinguishers exist to provide some more versatility.

A restaurant might be more likely to have an extinguisher in its kitchen that is designed to be used for grease fires, while a manufacturing facility might be more likely to need extinguishers designed to be used on flammable metals.

Contents

What’s inside the extinguisher? This is another important issue to consider. There are some types of extinguishers that use foam, others that use non-flammable carbon dioxide, others that use air-pressurized water and still others that use dry chemicals. The contents of the extinguisher will play a big role in the kinds of fires you’ll be able to fight with them.

Weight

The weight can be a consideration as well when you’re looking into the best kind of fire extinguisher to purchase for your home or business. There are some light extinguishers that are designed to be mounted on range hoods over the stove. They’ll often be magnetic pressurized cans that pop open when flames get too hot. There are two-pound portable extinguishers designed to be kept in cars, five-pound extinguishers made for quickly grabbing in a kitchen or mudroom, and 10-pound models that you can store in a garage or home workshop, where a fire could potentially grow larger before you begin to notice it. Obviously, the heavier the extinguisher, the more extinguishing material is contained inside of it.

For more information about how you can choose a fire extinguisher, or to learn more about fire extinguisher sales in Longview, TX, contact the team at Anchor Safety Inc. today. We look forward to helping you protect yourself and your property.

Categorised in: Fire Extinguishers

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