How to Upgrade an Alarm System to a Two-Wire Smoke Detector

A smoke detector operated independently of other devices connected to an alarm system; the detector sounds an internal siren once it senses a potentially dangerous level of smoke. To upgrade an existing alarm system so that smoke detection is included, add a hard-wired smoke detector. The smoke detector will run off the electric power from the house's electric lines and function whether the alarm system is on or off. The addition of the smoke detector will not inhibit the alarm system's operations in any way.

Ladder
Phillips screwdriver
Flashlight
Wood screws

Instructions

- 1
  Locate the room or area of the home where the alarm system's control panel is located. Enter the password into the control panel to temporarily disarm the alarm system. If additional commands must be issued, enter those commands as well. Go to the fuse box and trip the circuit breaker that supplies electrical power to the electrical junction box that is connected to the control panel.
- 2
  Remove the screws from the cover plate that is over the electrical junction box using a Phillips screwdriver. If the electrical junction box is behind a light fixture, use a ladder to reach the fixture and remove the screws from around the fixture with the Phillips screwdriver.
- 3
  Remove the cover plate from over the electrical junction box (or the light fixture, if one is there instead). Aim a flashlight so that you can see which screw on the electrical junction box has black wires wrapped around it, and which screw has white wires wrapped around it. Loosen these two screws using the Phillips screwdriver.
- 4
  Wind the already-stripped end of the black wire attached to the back of the smoke detector around the screw that has the black wires wrapped around it. Repeat this procedure with the white wire attached to the back of the smoke detector and the screw on the electrical junction box that has white wires wrapped around it. Tighten the two screws.
- 5
  Return the cover plate (or the light fixture) to the wall and reattach the screws. Place the smoke detector against the wall, just below the ceiling. Screw wood screws through the holes in the bracket on either side of the smoke detector and into the wall using the Phillips screwdriver.
- 6
  Restore the electric power at the fuse box. Enter the password into the control panel to rearm the alarm system.

Ionization Vs. Photoelectric Smoke Alarms

Hard-Wired Smoke Detectors Vs. Battery Smoke Detectors

Smoke Detectors