You know what really grinds my gears...

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I had a smoke alarm that chirped if the temperature went under 72 degrees. Fine, I’ll just change the battery. Did so and then tested it by pressing the button and every alarm of the same brand that is in my house (FirstAlert) decided to go off too

Tried pressing the button on all of them and they kept going off. I turned off the main breaker and they kept going off. Finally I decided to remove them from the wiring and remove their batteries

Then I found out one of them is 20+ feet up in the air. I don’t have ladder that tall so the only thing I figured I could do was bash it with a hickey stick until it got disconnected

I...idk if there was an easier why but Jesus Christ that was the most annoying thing I’ve ever had to deal with

[tifosi77]

I haven't used a hickey stick in a terrible long count of years.

[tifosi77]

Also, the smoke/CO alarms in our house are hardwired to the electrical system. If one goes off, I have to trip the breaker at the panel to kill it, and when the previous homeowners rewired the house in 201[x] their electrician didn't label which circuit was which.

[shafnutz05]

Also, the smoke/CO alarms in our house are hardwired to the electrical system. If one goes off, I have to trip the breaker at the panel to kill it, and when the previous homeowners rewired the house in 201[x] their electrician didn't label which circuit was which.

An unlabeled circuit breaker box? Geez that sounds annoying as hell lol.

[mikey]

It is, can confirm.

[dodint]

I'm not sure I've ever had one fully labeled. Just do the 'turn a light on' and start flipping trick.

[NTP66]

Mine is fully labeled, thankfully. Before my parents upgraded their box, not even half of the house was labeled, and the clown who wired it put random **** on the same circuit, like the kitchen and furthest bedroom from there. The guy who rewired it corrected all of that.

[tifosi77]

We looked at a house up in Pacifica at the outset of the Bleak Years that was sweet. Seller was an electrician, and he personally rewired the house, and everything was on point. The kitchen had an outlet every like 10", and they were recessed under the upper cabinets, so the backsplash tiles were uninterrupted for the full run of the walls. The panel was 400 amps (!) and he labeled everything with a label maker, so it was all perfectly legible and detailed.

I think I talked about it a bit at the time. The house was across the street from an elementary school and next to an apartment building that had multiple registered sex offenders in residence. Wooot.

[meow]

Also, the smoke/CO alarms in our house are hardwired to the electrical system. If one goes off, I have to trip the breaker at the panel to kill it, and when the previous homeowners rewired the house in 201[x] their electrician didn't label which circuit was which.

I got you. It’s the breaker that stops the beeping.

[skullman80]

Our house has a brand new electrical panel that the last owners put in.. .and they didn't mark a single breaker haha.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

should be illegal imo

[Gabe]

Our house was built in 1991. Some time between 91 and 2015, the old owners replaced the panel. They mislabeled or failed to label every breaker. Its been fun trying to figure what controls what.

[NTP66]

My biggest complaint about my panel is that the handwriting looks like that of a child's... or my wife's.

[robbiestoupe]

What I hate are labels like "first floor" or "kitchen 1, kitchen 2". It's lazy and forces me into the dodint on/off hack.

[tifosi77]

Yeah, in a way I think vague labels are more annoying - and not really any more useful - than no labels at all.

[Shyster]

Would it be crazy for me to buy a label maker and a circuit finder and then go around and actually number every single switch and outlet with its breaker number? Because I was thinking I could make that a project.

[Kane]

I mean, why though. Seems like huge overkill.

[Shyster]

But I like huge overkills...

[NTP66]

If your panel is labeled, there's no point in doing so.

[tifosi77]

Would it be crazy for me to buy a label maker and a circuit finder and then go around and actually number every single switch and outlet with its breaker number? Because I was thinking I could make that a project.

Not only do I second the motion, I think I might do it myself.

This sort of lines up with the PC case wiring discussion of a few days ago. Can't be too organized in these matters imo.

[dodint]

I would rather make a floorplan of the house in PowerPoint, Visio, whatever, and affix it to the inside door of the fuse panel. Mark each outlet location with a circuit number.

To what end, though? If you blow the circuit it's going to be the one tripped. If you need to rewire an outlet you're going to test it anyway. So it would save you a few circuit flips, at best.

I am not saying don't do it. But going around labeling each outlet like cat-5 data drops in a government building is an inelegant solution.

[NTP66]

I created a floorplan for my smoke detectors, because I can never remember where they all are.

[tifosi77]

I am comprised almost exclusively of inelegance, thanks for the affirmation!

[Kane]

I created a floorplan for my smoke detectors, because I can never remember where they all are.

Usually on the ceiling.

[PFiDC]

I'm currently mapping the church building for Steel City AF. Outlets, doors, locks, smoke/CO detectors, etc. It's a fun project. This whole building is wired with cat 6 and is a smart building. I can ask Alexa tk open and close the blinds...