If your going by the 2002 code, smoke detectors in bedrooms would be protected by AFCI, this does not sit right with me. In theory if someone was to unplug a lamp under load the AFCI should trip. If that were to happen the smoke detectors would not be live. We should not have to rely on the battery to save our lives. Most people don't check them anyway. I think smoke detectors should be able to be on a non AFCI circuit.
(B) Dwelling Unit Bedrooms. All branch circuits that supply 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere outlets installed in dwelling unit bedrooms shall be protected by an arc-fault circuit interrupter listed to provide protection of the entire branch circuit.
