Thursday, July 5, 2012

New Smoke Detectors and the Electrical Circuit List

We have been having the smoke detectors going off for no apparent reason, in the middle of the night. One possibility is that these are the wired-in smoke detectors that were installed when the house was built, in 1986. Smoke detectors, in general, are only supposed to last 10 years; these are now over 25 years old. Probably time to replace them.

I put in two new new Kidde FireX Model PI2010 Dual Sensor Smoke Alarms. Home Depot, $64.89. These provide both an Ionization sensor and a Photoelectric sensor. This replace the earlier ones that were ionization only.

Both the previous smoke alarms and the new ones have a "easy connect" feature that allows the smoke alarm to be plugged and unplugged easily without the need for re-wiring, but, of course, the connectors are incompatible, so I had to first disconnect the old connector and re-wire in the new connector. This requires finding the appropriate electrical circuit for each smoke detector, so I could shut off the power at the circuit breaker box.

The bedroom smoke alarm is on circuit 25; the hallway smoke alarm is on circuit 35.

As long as I was doing this, I created a spread sheet to list each electrical circuit and what I think is on it.



Circuit
1 Air Conditioner Compressor, attic subcircuits
2 Air Conditioner Compressor
3 Lights and Outlets in Guest Bedroom, GFI for all bathrooms, back porch
4 Air Conditioning Fan
5 Garbage Disposal, Light over Sink
6 Dishwasher
7 Dryer, Washer
8
9 Kitchen Island Outlet, outlets Left and Right of cooktop
10 Refrigerator
11 Outlets in Living Room
12 Kitchen Counter by Living Room, Dining Room outlets
13 Garage Outlets on outside wall
14 Central Bathroom Heater/Fan, Light near heater/fan.
15 Breakfast Nook
16 Microwave
17 Front Office outlets
18 Solar System Grid Tie-Breaker
19 Solar System Grid Tie-Breaker
20
21 Stove, Oven
22 Stove, Oven
23 Electric Dryer (?)
24 Electric Dryer (?)
25 Master Bedroom lights/outlets, Master Bath Lights, Floor Plugs in LR, Master Bedroom Smoke Alarm
26
27 Back Bathroom Fan/Light, lights over sink
28 Outside Backlights (Flood), Back Bedroom Fan/Light, Closet
29 Outlets in Front Office (some)
30 Dining Room Lights, South Track Lights, Hall Light, Outlets on South LR Wall
31 Kitchen Fan, Pantry Light, Utility Light, Garage Lights, Front Flood Lights, Attic Lights
32 Bathroom GFI Circuit, all 3 bathroom outlets, Computer Room outlets, Loft outlets, attic lights
33 Kitchen under cabinet lights (new work), left of sink
34 LR Track Lights (North), outlets on LR North Side, Fireplace, Entry Way, Hall outlets, Central Bathroom
35 Loft outlets, Computer Room/Closet Light/Fan, Master Closet Lights, Passthru Room outlets, Hallway Smoke Alarm
36 Kitchen Light, Breakfast Light, Office Light, Front Porch Lights, Entrance Way Light
37

This complements the previous circuit list that I had on two sheets of yellow tablet paper. One problem is how to refer to the rooms; trying to identify the bedrooms by occupant ("Kids, Guest, Lauren's, ...") is problematic since they have moved in, out, and around.

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