Smoke Alarms, do they ALL work WITHOUT AC Power?
My house was built in 1991: 2 floors and basement.
Each floor has a smoke detector (120V/9V back-up type) that is wired together (interconnecting).
When one smoke detector goes off, ALL 3 go off (I tested it).
But this is when there is AC power.
My question is: When there is no AC Power: when one smoke detector goes off, do ALL 3 smoke detectors go off? The mfg's tell me I need AC Power for all 3 to go off.
But reading different websites (Kidde, First Alarm etc.) ----> conflicting statements.
My thinking is: The Black and White wires go to the smoke alarm. The Red wire is the interconnecting wire ----> so even without AC Power, the 9V battery should be able to alarm all 3 detectors??? Any thoughts....
My house was built in 1991: 2 floors and basement.
Each floor has a smoke detector (120V/9V back-up type) that is wired together (interconnecting).
When one smoke detector goes off, ALL 3 go off (I tested it).
But this is when there is AC power.
My question is: When there is no AC Power: when one smoke detector goes off, do ALL 3 smoke detectors go off? The mfg's tell me I need AC Power for all 3 to go off.
But reading different websites (Kidde, First Alarm etc.) ----> conflicting statements.
My thinking is: The Black and White wires go to the smoke alarm. The Red wire is the interconnecting wire ----> so even without AC Power, the 9V battery should be able to alarm all 3 detectors??? Any thoughts....