- Price
- $25 - $100 (1)
- $100 - $200 (2)
- Manufacturer
- Contractors Wire & Cable (3)
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Fire Wire
Smoke detectors (or alarms) can be wired or wireless. If the detector is battery powered it is “wireless” and is a standalone unit. But if you have an AC-powered smoke detector in your home it is then “wired” and is likely also wired together or integrated with other smoke detectors. This sort of wiring ensures that if one smoke detector goes off, they all go off.
Furthermore, if you have a home alarm system in place, the smoke detectors are wired for communication to it which allows your alarm system to call for help in the case that the smoke alarm is triggered. All this is why the wiring of your smoke detector units is so important and choosing one, like all of your home security choices, should be well thought out.
The way a smoke detector is wired is very simple. Likewise, choosing your wire should be simple. Just like alarm wires, a label should be on the fire wire package (or box) indicating how many conductors (wires) there are and the gauge. For fire wires, typically a sheath covers 2 to 4 wires which are then stripped for installation. The gauge of the wire is the thickness of it. The higher the number of the gauge, the smaller the wire will be.
Fire wires are rated to accept a certain number of volts, for example 120 or 300 volts AC. Fire Wire, like most professional use wire and cable, is also rated by the Underwriters Laboratories® (UL Mark) using more than 30 standards including safety, performance, and quality assurance.
