Paying attention to the safety of your real estate, you should think not only about protection from robbers, but also about how to protect yourself from a fire. Many owners of armored doors are confident that their installation will protect the premises from all troubles. But it should be noted that quality armored doors have a margin of fire resistance of about 10-20 minutes, the refractoriness of conventional metal doors is not even discussed. During a fire, the fire spreads easily across the room, without encountering obstacles on its way. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the front door is reliable in terms of fire safety.
Contents
- Fire doors and their features
- Application of fire doors
- Criteria that should be considered when choosing a fire door
- Technical characteristics of fire doors
- Manufacturers of fire doors
Fire doors and their features
So, let's figure out what fireproof fire doors areand how they differ from ordinary metallic ones. Fireproof doors are designed to protect from fire and smoke, from toxic products of combustion and high temperatures. The main task of a fire-resistant door is to create an obstacle to fire and to prevent its spread.
The fire resistance of a fire door is ensured by the fact that non-combustible materials and special high-tech fillers with refractory properties are used in its manufacture. Thanks to internal fillers, the metal fire door acquires not only fire resistance, but also significantly increases sound and thermal insulation.
Often, the filler consists of mineral wool boards based on silica or basalt fibers, they fill the entire interior space of the door. Silicon dioxide or silica can keep a constant temperature of up to 1200 degrees and a short time up to 1700 degrees. Basalt fibers keep the temperature depending on the length of the thread itself. Some unscrupulous manufacturers use asbestos as a filler, and this is a carcinogen that adversely affects human health.
The main material for manufacturing fireproof metal doors is a seamless steel profile. And this is not surprising, since it is steel with a melting point of 700 to 10000C.In order for the steel to burn, the flame temperature must reach over 2000 degrees. By the way, wood and synthetics begin to burn at a temperature of about 220 degrees. So the fire resistance of the metal fire door is up to 120 minutes, depending on its class. For minimum property protection, prior to the arrival of fire department representatives, a door with a fire resistance rating of at least 30 minutes is required.
Application of fire doors
Before choosing and buying fireproof fire doors, it is necessary to decide what exactly is needed such a door, in what rooms it is required to use it. In general, fireproof metal doors are installed in the premises to which special fire safety requirements are advanced. For example, warehouses with fuels and lubricants, electrical panels, places of large concentrations of people, such as theaters, entertainment complexes, schools, etc. Also, fireproof metal doors are recommended to be installed as inputs to the apartment or technical rooms.
Since fire doors keep their stability for a long time, they do not allow smoke and fire to enter the room, people have more chances to leave the building covered by the flames unharmed. It is necessary to take into account the fact that with significant heating of only one part of the fire-resistant metal door, there is a risk of deformation of the blade itself and jamming it in the door frame. Such cases are possible if an explosion of inflammable materials occurs during a fire. To avoid such incidents in warehouses where explosive substances are stored, fireproof doors made of metal with additional insulating material should be installed.
Criteria to consider when choosing a fire door
The price of a fireproof door depends on the degree of its fire resistance. When choosing a door, take into account such factors as the presence or absence of fire extinguishing system in the room, the distance to the nearest fire department, the degree of fire and explosion hazard, etc. We have to take into account also the type of the wall:
- made of bricks;
- from plasterboard;
- of reinforced concrete;
- from the foam block.
The type of wall depends on the choice of door frame design. The door frame of the fire door is simple as well as more complex. When choosing doors, it is necessary to take into account the fire resistance of the wall itself. It's pointless to acquire a door with more fire resistance than the wall, since the wall will collapse much earlier than the fire will reach the door. Another important factor is the aesthetic component.
The fire door can easily become an object of decor, as various color solutions and configurations of door handles and front panel are possible. It should be noted that the paint and varnish coating of fire doors also have refractory properties. When choosing handles and other door fittings, it is better to pay attention to those made of refractory materials. Also, quality fireproof doors should be equipped with hinges on bearings, as this will ensure a smoother door stroke even when heated and prevent jamming.
In general, metal fire doors are equipped with locks of a special design that allow in the event of a fire, with one touch of the handle from the inside to open the doors and exit the room, the so-called "antipanic".Such locks give an opportunity to open the door without effort to children, the elderly and disabled people. Also the system allows in emergency cases to open the door with the help of an elbow.
When choosing a door, it is necessary to check on it a certificate regarding its fire safety, where the fire resistance limit at a certain temperature and the maximum temperature regime that the door can withstand should be indicated. The certificate of fire safety is issued only on those doors that have passed the appropriate tests, as close as possible to the actual conditions of the fire.
For testing, the door is placed in a special chamber where it is heated to the temperature of an open flame. Then, using the instruments, measure the temperature of the door from the back side. The door is heated until it begins to lose its fireproof properties and break down. There are several criteria for evaluating the fire resistance of doors:
- the first is the time through which the door loses its thermal insulation capability, the second is the time through which cracks or holes appear on the door leaf surface,
- the third is the time through which the structure completely fails.
After all tests, fireproof metal doors are appropriately marked, indicating the level of fire resistance. Marking is applied on the box and on the door leaf. A quality fireproof door should have the same marking as on the door frame. Marking of doors is duplicated and in the passport to them.
Technical characteristics of fire doors
According to the technical characteristics, fire doors are classified according to the fire resistance class and are marked with Latin letters:
- E - indicates the time at which the doors will be intact;
- I - the time at which the doors will keep the hot air;
- W - the time at which the doors will contain heat flow;
- S - the time at which the doors will contain smoke and carbon monoxide.
Doors fireproof DPM consist of a frame and the blade itself. On the hinges of the frame, which serves as a casing, a door leaf is hung. It is filled with refractory material, the quantity and order of its placement provides the required level of thermal insulation and fire resistance. Next is the installation of thermal sealing tape around the perimeter of the door frame, which during the fire swells and seals the gaps, not allowing smoke and combustion products to enter the room. There are also double-leaf fire doors, with fire-resistant glazing and without. For greater fire resistance, the glazing on the doors should occupy no more than 25% of the area of the canvas.
Manufacturers of fire doors
As the issue of fire safety is quite relevant, a lot of companies are engaged in the production of this product, both abroad and in Russia. The production technology is quite simple, and the quality of the finished product depends solely on the materials used to make the door. Proceeding from this, there is no sense to buy more expensive imported products. The difference in price is due to overpay for the brand and logistics costs.
By and large, each city has at least 3-4 local manufacturing companies. Therefore, consider only those companies that have localized throughout the country and have proven themselves in the best possible way. Among them:
- The Serpukhov Electromechanical Plant is the largest enterprise in Russia that produces various fire-fighting structures. Of the merits should be allocated more than 70 years of experience and the application of the most advanced technologies.
- PHOTOTECH is one of the few large manufacturers that specializes in creating translucent fireproof doors.
- ORMAN - like the previous company, is engaged in the production of translucent structures. The disadvantage is that the range of products is much smaller.
- Module-K - a modern manufacturer of fireproof doors, which offers the buyer the widest range of products. There is an opportunity to choose both budgetary options, and elite products, which, in addition to high fire resistance, have an exquisite appearance.
The price for fireproof doors starts from 8000 r.and reaches several hundred thousand. It is worth noting that 40% of the cost, and sometimes even 60%, account for the accessories and the lock. If you want to save, the best option is to purchase these parts separately and install them yourself or invite a specialist.
