the trend here, not sure if it's code ... but smoke detectors on a well used circuit, so it cannot be inadvertently tripped without knowing or intentionally tripped to silence nuisance alarms
Wired in smoke detectors
- Thread starter wcp0611
- Start date
sparky 1971
Well-known member
If the breaker gets tripped, the damned things start chirping to let you know the power is out. It's the same annoying chirp that tells you a battery is dead/dying.
^^^ I've never experienced that at my home when the power is out.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
^^ I have and it pissed me off trying to figure out which one(s) it was. I replaced every one of them in my own home because of it. My favorite chirp is when they are disconnected and the batteries are removed and they still do it. I replaced about 10 of them in a house, the customer had replaced the batteries recently so I took all of them out and gave them back. Driving down the road, at least one, maybe more were chirping in the back of my van, but didn't start until after I got on the interstate. I pulled off at an exit that seemed like an eternity away to throw the whole bag of them in a gas station dumpster.
I like when the end of life CO detector chirp kicked in at 3AM with no way to silence it other than take it down & pull the battery from it.
so now I had no smoke or co alarm on the main floor
so now I had no smoke or co alarm on the main floor
Jim greengo
Well-known member
I started shacking houses around 92 not long after I got out of the Army.
From around 70-82 I did mostly commercial and service work.
I do remember going into some apts in bellevue in the early 90s that were built in 60s-70s I'm guessing that always had panels in living room coat closets,always had to wait for people to move their junk out of way to get at the panels.
I always considered them to be fire traps myself anyway,they could be smoking a long time before anybody noticed.
reader2580
Well-known member
I put closet doors maybe a foot in front of my main panel, sun panel, and transfer switch. I have had the electrical inspector in there at least twice with no comments about the closet doors. It is most definitely not a clothes closet.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
It's a 200' walk for you to reset a tripped breaker?
Some locations to a breaker would defiantly entail more than 200'.
I'm not familiar with the code for this... but is their 200' number a "as the crow flies" sort of deal?
sparky 1971
Well-known member
There are a lot of houses where a 200' walk could be involved with getting to the panel. In the grand scheme of things, 200' isn't very far. With the comment about accessibility included, you make is sound as if you are going outside and walking to the neighbors house. I'm not going to measure, but I would bet it's more than a 200' walk to get to my panel from the master bedroom. The panel is in the basement, under the master. Out of the bedroom, across the house, down the hallway to the stairs, down the stairs, through another hallway and back to the other side of the house.
Accessible just means you can get to it without tearing anything up.
Article 100.
Accessible (as applied to equipment). Capable of being reached for operation, renewal, and inspection.
Accessible (as applied to wiring methods). Capable of being removed or exposed without damaging the building structure or finish or not permanently closed in by the structure or finish of the building.
Accessible, Readily (Readily Accessible). Capable of being reached quickly for operation, renewal, or inspections without requiring those to whom ready access is requisite to take actions such as to use tools (other than keys), to climb over or under, to remove obstacles, or to resort to portable ladders, and so forth.
Yeah I guess the fact that I have to go outside and walk 75' is where I get upset.
If there was an electrical emergency inside the house I can run around naked, barefoot, etc. to the panel and not have to worry about running into pitch black nighttime hoping I don't stepping on sharp rocks, rattlesnakes, cholla, prickly pear, and then finding the key or breaking the lock off on the exterior panel to switch a breaker off.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
I don't understand the reasoning behind outdoor panels. Never have, never will. Your first post says outside a couple hundred feet away. It sounds like it's a couple hundred feet away from the house.
Fundamentally if I'm in one section of the house yeah... I'm walking probably over 200-300' to get to the panel.
Just terrible design IMO. Not to mention the # of breakers that just start failing from being chock-full of dust in nuts.
dcg9381
Well-known member
Anyone know the code violation on that? Lots of homes I've seen have sub-panels in a closet. We've got a sub-panel in the laundry room.
Yea, that's a thing.
Sounds like you didn't do badly... Moving a sub-panel seems like the main PITA though.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
240.24(D)
I just googled it. It appears that 1981 was the first year that mentioned clothes closets. There was either an amendment excepting it or the inspector didn't know about it when I did two of them in 1997.
walta
Well-known member
Take a few minutes and adjust your attitude. You are responsible to know and follow the code if you are going to do this work.
Do not get mad at the inspector for doing his job and noticing your errors. Remember he is the inspector not the instructor.
Be aware many locations when you do major work like a new panel the smoke alarm system must be brought up to the current code even in rooms that required no other work get a new alarm. An alarm in every bedroom and another just outside the bedroom. You are likely to need a dozen in most homes.
Walta
Do not get mad at the inspector for doing his job and noticing your errors. Remember he is the inspector not the instructor.
Be aware many locations when you do major work like a new panel the smoke alarm system must be brought up to the current code even in rooms that required no other work get a new alarm. An alarm in every bedroom and another just outside the bedroom. You are likely to need a dozen in most homes.
Walta
Attachments
Just to throw this into the mix.... We recently did a reroof and the inspector made me replace two of the smokes with combo smoke/CO units. One in the hallway on each floor. It was required to pass the final on the roof.
Welp, as soon as he passes us on the final, that bad boy is getting flipped back to the closet again. If not, it'll be in my son's (4) room and the only thing it powers is his room and his sisters (7) room. They are the greatest friends and most bitter of enemies. He'd pop that door and start hitting switches anytime she wronged him.
dcg9381
Well-known member
For those that don't want to look it up:
Good thing there is no easily ignitable material in garages!
The question is if you can address the "vicinity" issue, IE per Table 110.26A 1 and 30" width of working space, would that be "passable"?
sparky 1971
Well-known member
I wouldn't be willing to argue and I'm a ***** that likes to argue.
mikeyr
Well-known member
Does your code require wired detectors ? here it does not, it does require interconnected however. I went with 3 Nest's, 2 in house, 1 in detached garage and they all talk to each other, that was good enough for my inspector. My Wi-Fi is on battery backup, so Wi-Fi will be one of the last things to go in a bad situation, meaning they should work even in power outages for a day or so.
I have Nest Protects as well, and was curious - it doesn't actually need WiFi to communicate with each other. From https://support.google.com/googlene...py=,how-nest-protects-connect-with-each-other
SlappyWhite
Well-known member
For the smoke alarms go by local code(s) of course....
Here they are on their own breaker with only a commonly used, usually hall, light. The purpose of the one light is that it is used often and if the breaker was off or tripped the home owner will notice right away. They were also exempt from being on AFCI or GFCI to reduce any potential for nuisance trips. Like others noted, 14/3 and the red wire is for signalling. I do 14/2 from the panel and then 14/3 after the first alarm to all of them.
Building code here requires minimum one on each floor and outside of every bedroom. I ended up with eight at home which is more than needed by code.
Here they are on their own breaker with only a commonly used, usually hall, light. The purpose of the one light is that it is used often and if the breaker was off or tripped the home owner will notice right away. They were also exempt from being on AFCI or GFCI to reduce any potential for nuisance trips. Like others noted, 14/3 and the red wire is for signalling. I do 14/2 from the panel and then 14/3 after the first alarm to all of them.
Building code here requires minimum one on each floor and outside of every bedroom. I ended up with eight at home which is more than needed by code.