Trying to hook up two lights and two smoke detectors in boiler room. There is a junction box the above furnace where power currently enters the boiler room. Moving away from the furnace toward the door to the boiler room I'd like to add the following:

a light fixture near the furnace,
a smoke detector a couple feet further away from first light fixture,
another light fixture another two feet further away from first smoke detector,
another smoke detector on finished side of basement that will tie into upstairs smoke detector,
and finally a light switch next to the door entering the boiler room (furthest point away from furnace) controlling the lights, but obviously not switching the smoke detectors.

Could someone please tell me the best way to wire this?

 

As i understand it NY has very strict rules regarding who and where electrical work can be done. You need to check if you are allowed to do the work. A call to your building officials should be able to tell you.

I would probably advise a heat detector near the boiler instead of a smoke alarm.

 

The house in question is not located in NY. I'm looking for a solution to my wiring dilemma, any thoughts?

 

Actually, the rules are only really strict in NYC. The rules of the rest of the state are about like anyplace else.
Definitely a good suggestion!

 

Check with Fire Prevention in your town to see what they require in the boiler room.
Geo

 

Thanks to all those that expressed concern about complying with local building/fire codes. To be clear, my question is about how to make the actual connections between the light fixtures, smoke/heat detector, and wall switch. Does anyone know the answer to this? Please, no more replies about anything other than how to make the connections. Thank you!

 

There are many ways to do this. What wiring method are you using, or want to use?

 

If the upstairs detectors are interconnected, both new detectors should wire from that circuit and not the new lighting circuit.

 

I wouldn't wire smokes in with lights. In my house we had to wire all the smoke detectors on their own AFCI breaker, with nothing else on the circuit.

Other than that, I'm not sure what you're asking.

 

So here's my question in a nutshell, at the junction box above the furnace I have a 12/3 wire from main house panel coming into the junction box, the black is feeding the furnace and the red is not being used but is hot. What specific connections do I need to make from junction box to first light, then to smoke/heat detector, then to next light, then to next smoke/heat detector, and then to wall switch to control the lights. The sort of answer I need would be along the lines of "you connect this color wire from the junction box to this color wire on the first light using this type of wire, then you connect these wires from this light to these wires on the detector, etc. etc." Can anyone help?

P.S. Powering the detectors from above is not an option as the upstairs detector is not currently active and needs to be powered from basement.

 

But you said in post #1.......

Tie your smokes into the "another smoke detector on finished side of basement".

From the junction box above the furnace (or boiler, it is a boiler room, right?) run the red circuit to a light, drop a switch loop to the switch, run the switched hot and neutral to the other light.

 

None of the smokes have power yet. Can I use the red to power the lights and tie to the smokes to the black that also powers the furnace? Everything would share the same neutral, correct?

 

The furnace circuit should remain dedicated.

 

You seem to be lacking in basic electrical skills by the questions that you ask. I strongly urge you to buy a copy of Wiring Simplified and read it cover to cover as it will answer these basic questions. Wiring Simplified is usually available at the big box mega-mart homecenters as well as corner hardware stores and also on-line book sellers. The cost is about ten dollars or sometimes less and it is usually found in the electrical aisle rather than the books and magazines section.

 

I had the same feelings Furd. Thanks.

 

Yes, I am lacking in electrical skills. That's why I posted here in the first place! I thought this was supposed to be a help forum for DIYer's. Apparently, I am mistaken.

 

No, not mistaken but you need to know the basics. We are here to help once you have taught yourself the basics so you can understand the answers and how to apply them.

 

Without some basic knowledge you'll never become a DIYer. Furd's suggestion was a good one.

 

Having a strong foundation and understanding the basics will make the job go much smoother and save you time, material and frustration.

 

The main problem I see, is in how you are thinking you should wire the smokes in with the lights. The issue is that once you power the smokes, the wires between each smoke need to be all three wire cable (12/3 or 14/3) because of the interconnect between each one. As I said, there are many ways to do this depending on your wiring method. If you did want to wire all the lights and smokes together you would need 4 wire cable, or conduit.

So here is what I would do:

Run a 2 wire cable from your box with your hot/neutral to the first smoke box, then run a 3 wire cable to the next smoke and every smoke after that. The black is your hot, white neutral, and red will be the interconnect wire.

The lights run a 2 wire cable from the box with the hot/neutral to the switch, then run a 2 wire from the switch box to each light and splice color for color. If you are using keyless lamp holders, connect black to brass, and white to silver. Ground will not get connected unless there is a ground screw, or you are using metal boxes.

 

Tolyn, thank you! This is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. One question, and I apologize if it's a dumb one. However, there are currently two hot wires in the box, the red is currently unused and the black is powering the furnace. Can I run the two different 2-wire cables that you describe below (one to the first smoke and one to the switch) off the same red wire in the box?

 

If the load is within limits of the circuit both the lights and smoke can be on the same circuit. Some areas request a dedicated circuit for smokes. Also the smokes need to be on one circuit. You cannot have one circuit for the smokes upstairs and another downstair.

 

I will assume there is also a neutral (white) you have a multiwire circuit. Care should be taken when working with these circuits.

Yes, you can have multiple cables/circuits in a box. Leave the furnace circuit alone and use the red circuit.