A fire extinguisher may be one of the equipment that can help you when you are in a situation of life and death. Hence, installing one at your home is not enough. You need to make sure that it remains in workable condition so that you are not fooled at the hour of need. However, maintaining your home fire extinguisher is not child’s play. You need to be familiar with the type of fire extinguisher you are using and should be well conversed with certain technicalities in order to maintain the devices properly. If you are short of knowledge and experience, you need to approach a fire extinguisher maintenance company in Singapore who can service it professionally for you. Usually you will check your extinguishers every 6 monthly to ensure the pressure of the extinguishers medium is adequate, but you will leave it to the maintenance company to service your extinguisher.
In addition, here are some tips about how to maintain your home fire extinguisher that are within your means:
Store the equipment in a right place
The first and foremost thing that you need to do is to store the equipment in the right place. This is to say that in case of any eventuality, you need to have access to it as soon as possible. Moreover, you need to store it in a place that is open, airy or well ventilated so that there is minimal chance of the accumulation of rust.
Study the equipment properly
You need to read the instructions properly so that you can use the home fire extinguisher accurately in times of need and also maintain it properly. Remember, if you are a novice, there is high chance that you might inadvertently damage the device while using it.
Spotting the equipment in the right point
Most of the modern extinguishers come up with a mounting bracket, complete with screwing provision. Hence, you can easily mount them on the walls of your apartment. The only thing is that you need to spot the right place to do that.
The kitchen is one of the places where you need to mount one up, as this is the place that is most prone to fire-related mishaps. One needs to be mounted in your drawing room, if not in the bedroom. Your washroom or toilet is obviously not the right place for a fire extinguisher. You should consider installing one in your garage if you have one.
Servicing it regularly
If you have a disposable device, then you can do away with it after one use and replace it with a new one. If not, you need to hire an experienced and qualified fire extinguisher maintenance company to do it for you. Make sure that it is regularly serviced and maintained. On your part, you can check whether it is adequately pressurized. There a pressure-testing-mechanism in the form of a button that will help you measure the pressure. If you find that the tool is not adequately pressurized, you need to contact the maintenance company and have it re-pressurized immediately.
Practice Drill
Lastly, even if it sounds childish, you need to practice fire drills regularly involving your family members, mocking an emergency situation. If possible, get the technician from the fire extinguisher maintenance company to guide you along at least once when he comes over to maintain your fire extinguisher. This will make sure you use the equipment in a perfect way under his guidance and ensure that you know what to do in times of a fire emergency.