Hard wired smoke detectors

Well if you have never done electrical and it a daycare I would say hire it done. If you can wire and get to the attic to wire then go for it. You could also run conduit and mount them to the celing. Codes vary if in doubt hire a pro.

mikell

 

You certainly need to get a thorough understanding of the installation of the detectors. When I moved the house, I was required to bring the already existing smoke detectors up to date with the current code. Even for a single resident the code here now requires that all the smoke detectors be interconnected so that if one sounds they all sound off. In a daycare I am confident they want everything exactly as the code specifies and you would be liable if there were any violations. I normally am a do- it- yourselfer but in this incident I would hire a licensed electrician and I would keep the receipt. You can write the costs off as an expense.

 

The term "hard wired" refers to the fact they do not plug into the wall and yes, they should be interconnected. Make sure they have battery back up and consider getting carbon monoxide detectors too, even if they aren't required. They aren't hard to install, but you may not be allowed to do it yourself. Check with the fire marshall and the daycare licensing board first.

 

How they work will depend on what kind you get. There are two basic types. One is just a 120volt powered alarm, Self contained. Most code requres it to be run on seperate circuit from any other devices. You just wire as many as you need. The second one is similar but you also run a trigger wire along with the power that will allow all alarms to go off when one does.

Its not hard to install but from the questions your asking I would say you need to hire someone who knows how to do it.

 

blhmabbott, we had to do the same thing...the firemarshall had to inspect our home because we were getting a license to be a "group home" for foster kids...we checked into the hardwired smoke detectors and we decided to let a pro do it. We checked into several persons and we decided to let ADT alarm system do it...they installed 8 hardwired dectcors, motion sensors, door alarms, wall panel, and 2 alarm boxes all the work and all hardwired with 12 volt battery backup. We kept the ADT service for about 5 months and then we dropped the service and just have the alarm that is no longer hooked into ADT. The total instalation with all of the listed items cost us about $750. We had a lot of extras though...like the motion sensors, and the extra alarm box. They sometimes run specials and it might be worth checking into. Good luck with your daycare.

Belinda

 

it would be better to get a licensed electrician to install these to make sure they work correctly. Also MAKE CERTAIN that you have a couple of battery-operated smoke detectors just in case the electricity fails....some of the electrical hard-wired ones have batter back ups but I still like to have a couple of cheap battery-powered ones "just in case."