I am working on this job with a Tesla Powerwall3 inside garage by customer request and failed inspection due to Missing Heat Detector interconnect to the house Smoke detector or Fire system. As this is a new home and down here in South Nevada there is no prewired neither a Smoke detector inside garage. Here are my interrogantes: 1 Installing a Heat or Smoke detector inside a garage (at least with this really hot summer in las Vegas) is going to be annoying for the customer. 2 Any Idea how comply with this requirement?. Anyone successfully connected a Wireless device to the hardwire home system?
BATTERY INSIDE GARAGE REQUIREMENTS
- Thread starter ING23
- Start date
Joe.B
Senior Member
- Location
- Myrtletown Ca
- Occupation
- Building Inspector
I remember when this requirement first hit the codes there was some chatter among our local fire code folks who thought it was a "kart before the horse" kind of thing. This is outdated, and CA specific, but interesting:
jaggedben
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern California
- Occupation
- Solar and Energy Storage Installer
I don't see why. It's required to be a heat alarm, not a smoke alarm, so that it doesn't trip from dust and exhaust. If the garage is too hot for the heat alarm (typically 135F) then I think you have issues with garage ventilation, even in Vegas, and you probably shouldn't be installing batteries in there to begin with.
There are some wirelessly interconnected products available. We used one from X-Sense a couple times, but had to replace all the other alarms.
Also start telling all the GCs you know that new builds should include a heat alarm in the garage just in case.
NEC Inspector
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas
- Occupation
- Inspector
Still need the heat detector in the garage. See 2024 IRC 330.7.
People need to hear an alarm and get out of bed if that thing cooks off in their garage.
jaggedben
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern California
- Occupation
- Solar and Energy Storage Installer
What NEC Inpsector said, although you may just need to confirm that the sprinklers are hooked into the alarm system in a way that they’ll set off an alarm to the inhabitants.
Sprinklers aren't going to put out a lithium battery fire although they should likely keep it from spreading.
rambojoe
Senior Member
- Location
- phoenix az
- Occupation
- Wireman
Im curious, is there a bedroom adjacent to or directly above the garage?
Btw, a few sprinklers might not do squat.
Imo
Btw, a few sprinklers might not do squat.
Imo
paulsbunion
New User
- Location
- Salinas, CA
- Occupation
- Solar Installer
Tesla powerwall 3 is LFP and water will definitely put out a fire.
Funny thing about this part of the code is you can "install" an 85kwh battery in your garage as long as it's attached to a vehicle. Once you permanently mount it on the wall (preventing it from experiencing road damage, vibrations etc.) then it becomes a safety concern.