May 31, 2002, Newsletter Issue #20: Installing interconnected smoke detectors

Tip of the Week

When you tackle a home improvement project, please think about installing interconnected smoke detectors while you have things torn up anyway.
A smoke detector should be installed inside each bedroom, in the hall leading to the bedrooms, in the mechanical room (where the furnace and the water heater are), and at the top of the stairs at each level of the house. There is nothing to say you can`t install one wherever you think there is a chance of fire.

When deciding which smoke detector to purchase, you want to buy interconnected alarms with battery backup. The battery backup feature means that even when the power goes out, the alarms will work.

The top floor (just under the attic) is the easiest to wire. Determine the locations to install detectors (the instructions that come with each detector will help) and poke a hole through the ceiling with a screwdriver. If the hole is close to a joist, cut the appropriate sized hole for a nail-on box. If the hole is away from the joist, use an old work box (the hardware clerk will show you what it is). If the hole is right into a joist, use a pancake box.

Starting at the last detector in line, pull 14-3 with ground Romex from box to box, working your way to the farthest box from the starting point. When done with this step, you will have one cable in the first box, one cable in the last box, and two cables in each box in between.

Then pull a run of 14-2 with ground Romex from the last box to a source of power such as a general outlet or, preferably, the breaker panel. Install all the detectors before making the power connection.

Each detector will come with a black wire, a white wire, a green or bare wire, and another colored wire, usually yellow. Connect with wire nuts the black detector wire to the black wire(s) in the box. Then the white to white, the green to the copper, and the yellow to the remaining red. Notice that in the first box where there is only one cable, you will have only two wires under each wire nut. In the other boxes except for the last, you will have three wires under each connector. In the last box there will be only two red wires under the wire nut, but three wires under each of the other wire nuts.

Fold the wires into the box, line up the detector, twist, and you are almost done. Make the power connection, black to power, white to neutral, and copper to ground, and sleep well knowing that you are protecting your family and your belongings.

Check each alarm every month by pushing the test button. All the alarms should go off when one is tested. Also, change the battery on each alarm once a year.

About LifeTips

Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.