Smoke alarm question.

[Ajr188]

Can a feed for a smoke alarm be tapped off a 15 amp branch circuit by code ? Also can someone provide me with the section in the code.

Thanks

 

[Little Bill]

Yes
You won't find a code addressing this. As long as your splice is correct and the circuit is not overloaded, it's fine to do this. As a matter of fact, I normally splice off a bedroom circuit for the smoke alarms.

 

[gadfly56]

It's advisable to tap a circuit in common use, like hallway lights or some such. That way, if OCPD for the branch is tripped you'll know it in short order. The beeping of the alarm should also be a clue, but correcting the one problem will then solve the other.

 

[ptonsparky]

I agree &

It's advisable to tap a circuit in common use, like hallway lights or some such. That way, if OCPD for the branch is tripped you'll know it in short order. The beeping of the alarm should also be a clue, but correcting the one problem will then solve the other.

always made sure the smokes were on a BC that would be noticed. Master bedroom or similar. Beeping low volume warnings mean nothing to me nowadays.

 

[kwired]

It's advisable to tap a circuit in common use, like hallway lights or some such. That way, if OCPD for the branch is tripped you'll know it in short order. The beeping of the alarm should also be a clue, but correcting the one problem will then solve the other.

The units I've used don't beep when power is off. If they do beep it is because backup battery is at low voltage levels.