smoke alarm & inverter

 We are in the process of wiring our off-grid house and have come up
with an unexpected problem concerning the smoke alarms.  Codes require
them to be hardwired to 120 volt system.  No problem with the wiring
itself but I'd reather not have the inverter run 24-7 just to power
the alarm.  Is there a way around this or does anybody know of 12 or
24 volt hardwired smoke alarms that will pass electrical inspeciton?

  Your best bet would be to ask your local electrical inspector. It is their
job to make recommendations as well to enforce the code. A conscientious one
will have some ideas on the subject to help you.

Hardwired protects you if you forget to replace the batteries, but what
about a power failure?  Do they have battery backup? If they do, then maybe
you would not need to run the inverter 24/7.

I almost doubt they will draw enough current to bring an inverter out of
"sleep mode" anyway.

Whatever the code says, you might want to add a few with a self contained
battery.

 gwc.consulting@verizon.net (Don Miller) wrote:

Our alarm system runs on a battery and has hardwired detectors, talk
to any alarm system company...  Ademco 4192SDT smoke detectors, which
probably only talk to an alarm panel, but itmight be worth it in your
case...

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc.    www.compusmiths.com

  gwc.consulting@verizon.net (Don Miller) wrote:


Try a small voltage reg and run the alarm hard wired to your 12 or 24
volt system.

George

 

I thought of that myself, but if you read the wording of the original post
it said...
"Codes require them to be hardwired to 120 volt system". Although it may
meet the intent of the law, it does not meet the letter of the law. (If that
wording does indeed reflect the wording actual wording of the code).

I think it would be prudent to talk to the code inspector to find out how
THEY interpret the specific wording of the code. Then, somebody might get
creative and engineer a solution that meets code (i.e. satisfies the
inspector) and also the posters requirements.

I'd hate to spend a lot of time engineering a solution and buying components
only to have a code inspector reject it.