J&G Electric Co., Inc. Public Service Announcement
All you need to know about Smoke Detectors and more!
Day 1: Hardwired Smoke Detectors with red or green light
Smoke Detectors: everyone should have some in their home. Please take a moment and look at your smoke detectors.
Do you see a red light or a green light?
Do you know whether your smoke detectors have battery backups?
Day 2: Smoke Detectors with 10 year sealed battery
If you did your homework after seeing our PSA Day 1 video, you should know whether you have hardwired smoke detectors with a green or red light.
Now we will take about the new type of smoke detector that is required in your home. On the box, it says “10-year sealed battery”. This type of smoke detector does not have a battery you can change or remove.
It was made mandatory as a result of people removing batteries from their smoke detectors because they would start beeping in the middle of the night and never replacing them, thus silencing a potentially life-saving implement.
Day 3: Hands-on demonstration: how to identify a hard-wired smoke detector
Today we are talking about smoke detectors and whether you have Hard-wired Smoke detectors.
Twisting the smoke detector counter-clockwise to detach the device and reveal wires you want to disconnect to take a closer look.
If your device has a casing that can be opened and could house a battery, you have a standard smoke detector.
As long as your smoke detector is less than 10 years old, you do not need to replace it with a 10-year sealed battery smoke detector.
Snap the wires back in back in, put up the device back up to the ceiling firmly, and rotate it clockwise until it clicks.
You can also tell if you have a hard-wired smoke detector if you can see a green glowing light.
Day 4: Hands-on demonstration of how to identify a battery-operated smoke detector
Today, we learn how to identify a battery-operated smoke detector.
This smoke detector is much smaller than the hard-wired one we looked at in the previous installment.
It has a small test button that does not feature a light.
In order to remove it from the ceiling, you need to rotate it to the right, not the left.
And underneath, you will see a battery.
It is a good idea to put dates on the batteries of your smoke detectors and replace them once a year.
Day 5: Hands-on demonstration: How to identify an alarm smoke detector
An alarm smoke detector is yet another type of smoke detector you might have in your home if you have a central alarm system like ADT.
This smoke detector is monitored, but it does not alleviate the need for hard-wired smoke detectors in your home.
You should be able to tell this device from a home smoke detector as it looks totally different.
In addition, there are test buttons on your home smoke detector that do not call an alarm company or the fire department.
It is very important for you to be able to know what you are looking at when looking at your smoke detectors.
Day 6: How to identify a 10 year sealed battery smoke detector
Today we are going to talk about the 10-year sealed battery.
The sides of the device now feature stickers for both when it was installed and when it needs to be replaced.
The backside does not feature a removable plate to open a battery casing.
The lid does not come off, it is solidly in place.
It does feature a power cord that will snap into place in the back of the device.
It is very important to hear the clicking sound of the power cord snapping into place.
And again, the red or green light will indicate that your smoke detector is hard-wired.
Upon turning the device counter-clockwise, you will bring it down and reveal 3 wires confirming the device is hard-wired.
A hard-wired smoke detector can be retrofitted with a 10 year sealed battery smoke detector.
Day 7: Full recap about the 10 years sealed battery smoke detector
Today we are getting a full recap about what there is know about the 10 years sealed battery smoke detector.
It has a sealed 10-year lithium battery inside.
It is a hard waired smoked detector and has a light that will be glowing red or green.
New smoke detectors will feature installation and replace-by date stickers.
If you have new style smoke detectors with those date stickers, you may not need a 10 year sealed battery smoke detector.
But if your smoke detector is more than ten years old, it needs to be replaced with a 10 year sealed battery system.
If you turn the smoke detector counter-clockwise it will come down from the ceiling and will reveal wires making it a hard-wired smoke detector.
If it has a red wire that is not connected to anything, then your smoke detector is not inter-connected.
Interconnection is very important.
In our next episode we will talk about interconnection, and if your house was not wired for it, how to get around that problem with RF (radio frequency) smoke detectors.
Day 8: An introduction to RF (radio frequency) Smoke detectors
Joey introduces a number of radio frequency smoke detectors including a 10-years sealed battery RF smoke detector to replace your old smoke detectors, and battery only RF units to use elswhere in your home, as well as a version of the 10 year sealed battery unit that also feature a carbon monoxide detector.
The radio frequency smoke detectors are interconnected, with the 10 year sealed battery units acting as hubs for the others to connect to and relaying alarms throughout your home when any single unit is triggered.
Tomorow we will talk about Carbon monoxide and the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
Day 9: A run-down of carbon monoxide detectors in your home
You only need them in your home if you burn fossil fuels in your home, like natural gas for gas appliances (gas stove, gas heater, a gas burning fireplace, gas water heater, or gas furnace for example).
So when the time comes to replace your old smoke detectors, consider getting a 10-years hard wired smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector combination unit.
Carbon monoxide detectors are required in central areas of your home like hallways, in all levels including the basement.
If you do not want to use combo units to replace your old carbon monoxide or smoke detectors, you can also buy 10-years sealed battery hard-wired carbon monoxide detectors.
They are to be mounted at 12 to 16 inches of the floor along the hallways throughout your home.
Some models are interconnected and will also provide protection throughout the entire house.
A wall-mounted carbon monoxide, on the other hand, will only provide protection in a particular section of the house.
Some wall-mounted units feature digital output which is arguably preferable to one that does that have the digital output because it can give you an early warning of a problem.
Day 10: Do you have CSST piping in your home?
CSST piping is yellow corrugated stainless steel piping used for natural gas that needs to be bonded to your home's electrical system.
Joey shows the CSST piping in a home connecting to a gas furnace and gas water heater.
The yellow covering on the piping is a rubber coating.
Joey points out that the valves at the worksite do not have any copper wires attached to them in spite of the national electrical code.
In the next episode, we will see how what it is supposed to look like.
Day 11: What CSST piping should actually look like in your home
Joey inspects a completed J&G Electric Co., Inc. job.
There are clamp-ups at every connector of each CSST pipe providing protection in case of a problem, and the bonded electric wire connects back to the electrical system.
Day 12: Electrical grounding for the water system in your home.
The main water feed that comes into your home from the street.
I could come in through the wall or through the floor depending on the home's layout.
There is a yellow valve that serves as the main shutoff for the home, with an additional valve further up.
The thing missing in this home, however, is the copper wire from the electrical panel.
In the next video, we will see how a home featuring the grounding done properly.
This is J&G Electric Co., Inc Public Service Announcement brought to you by Joey Bellosi, president and master electrician.
Stay tuned for more episodes in the new future!
