Most certainly…only says they have to be on AFCI…not all on the SAME AFCI…
However the Smokes have to be on the same circuit as they are intereconnected…which is why running a dedicated circuit for them is my method of choice…but again that may be just me…:)…I do EXPENSIVE homes…so it is not a issue.
The other work around I have heard is putting the alarm circuit on a smaller O/C device so it isn’t 15a anymore. (still wired in 14 tho).
I think they should allow remote battery units for those that get mounted 30’ off the floor.
Agreed…since I can say I get about 50 a year at the peak of a 30-50’ ceiling on some of the homes we wire up in the mountains…I can see your point greatly on that one…
Personally in my opinion if the smoke rises that high to activate that high smoke…chances are others have gone off already…so from one electrician to another who HATES to bring in an extention ladder just to install a smoke detector…I agree…
I may have told this story here (I know I did over at Bob’s house). My wife had the duty pager for over 1000 closed house customers in SW Florida for 2 weeks. She got 2 calls. One wanted the pool alarm disconnected and one wanted a chirping smoke detector in a 27’ atruim removed (actually called in as a warranty problem). Both were told by neighbors if they called this on off shift they could pay the service guy $50 to remove them. Since these smoke detectors require regular maintenance I am not sure how NFPA can justify putting them in such an inaccessible place. I guess they forget more people get killed in falls than get killed in fires. The pool alarm problem got so bad they now have a separate cord and cap from the alarm panel that only serves the pool alarms. You can unplug it but it is illegal to have a switch that disbles it, even if it is only disabled for one open/close cycle of the door.
30 seconds after you hit the bypass switch the alarm goes off if the door is still open. The unofficial “fix” is to velcro a magnet next to the door switch that can be removed to activate the alarm but we can’t actually say that out loud.