Black White
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011If house wiring is black white and green but a smoke detector has red white and black, how do I connect them?
The instructions on the detector seem to assume that wiring colors will match, but they don't. Black to hot, white to neutral and red to interconnect lines of other units in the multiple station setup. What do I do?
If you are only installing one unit then you can simply leave the red wire disconnected. Though cover the end of it with a screw on connector or electrical tape so it doesn't accidently make a connection. The green wire is the earth wire, if there is no green wire or the instructions do not mention earthing or grounding the detector the you can leave this one disconnected also.
Smoke detectors save lives, so I commend you for installing/replacing yours.