Thread: smoke detectors

Hey guys.... have a home built in the 60's.... this is the first one I've seen that had no smoke alarms at all.... when did the law require hard wired alarms? tx b

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There are probably different answers to the question depending on local codes.

Why not just recommend that they be installed?

Hardwired, interconnected, and battery backed up. The safest configuration is the best advice you can give.

Hardwired units started being installed in my area in the late 70's.
There are some wireless battery operated smoke alarms on the market. They're kind of expensive, but are cheaper than installing hardwired ones.

Here's one: First Alert SA501CN-3ST ONELINK Wireless Battery Operated Smoke Alarm

Originally Posted by Brandon Whitmore

Hardwired units started being installed in my area in the late 70's.
There are some wireless battery operated smoke alarms on the market. They're kind of expensive, but are cheaper than installing hardwired ones.

Here's one: First Alert SA501CN-3ST ONELINK Wireless Battery Operated Smoke Alarm

Here are the wireless smoke alarms I installed in our house: Kidde Wireless Home

Really not that expensive.

Kidde also makes a permanently wired, with battery back up, smoke alarm which is wirelessly interconnected. Those meet the requirements for adding smoke detectors into remodeled home based on the Existing Building Code as they are "permanently wired", have a "second source of power", and are "interconnected" as the code does not specify 'how' they are to be interconnected - Kidde Wireless Product Descriptions - http://www.kidde.com/utcfs/ws-384/As...C%20Manual.pdf ... note that when using this only one of the wirelessly interconnected ones are installed on the wired interconnected system. You could have two interconnected systems which are not interconnected to each other and install one wirelessly interconnected on each wired interconnected system, tying both systems together wirelessly.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Here are the wireless smoke alarms I installed in our house: Kidde Wireless Home

Really not that expensive.

Kidde also makes a permanently wired, with battery back up, smoke alarm which is wirelessly interconnected. Those meet the requirements for adding smoke detectors into remodeled home based on the Existing Building Code as they are "permanently wired", have a "second source of power", and are "interconnected" as the code does not specify 'how' they are to be interconnected - Kidde Wireless Product Descriptions - http://www.kidde.com/utcfs/ws-384/As...C%20Manual.pdf ... note that when using this only one of the wirelessly interconnected ones are installed on the wired interconnected system. You could have two interconnected systems which are not interconnected to each other and install one wirelessly interconnected on each wired interconnected system, tying both systems together wirelessly.

I just installed 8 of the exact same units - 4 are hard wired and 4 battery powered. It's a great way to update an older house to be interconnected without having to pull new wires everywhere.

One odd thing.... the battery powered units run off of 3 AA standard batteries (as in not 10-year batteries). We have a law here in Oregon (I think it's just local) that smoke detectors must have 10-year batteries when it's their only power source. I was surprised for one that they run off AA instead of 9 volts and that they aren't 10 years type (do they even make a 10 year AA battery?)

I was surprised for one that they run off AA instead of 9 volts and that they aren't 10 years type (do they even make a 10 year AA battery?)
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I've been ignoring that 10 year requirement with some of the smoke detectors like this one. If you read the listing/ battery requirement on the units, they only allow specific batteries to be used. Often, the lithium batteries are not listed. The ones I checked yesterday only allowed one brand and model of battery.

Matt,

I'm curious... how many supposed 10 year lithium batteries have you run into that are dead?

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

I just installed 8 of the exact same units - 4 are hard wired and 4 battery powered.

If you installed the ones like the second ones I referred to, then all 8 were permanently wired and all 8 had battery back up power, and they were all wirelessly interconnected.

Now, if you are referring to the first ones I referred to (like the ones I installed in our house), yeah, those are AA battery powered (or were they AAA?) and the batteries last a little over 6 months. You should change the batteries whenever the time changes from/to daylight savings time and the batteries last a little longer than that ... which reminds me, ours will likely start beeping soon as I did not change the batteries when the time changed.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Now, if you are referring to the first ones I referred to (like the ones I installed in our house), yeah, those are AA battery powered

Yep - wireless interconnect, 4 of each. The 4 battery units were to inconnect the original bedrooms to the 2 original hardwire ones (1979 construction) and the 2 hardwired units in the 2 bedrooms we added on over the winter.

Originally Posted by Brandon Whitmore

I've been ignoring that 10 year requirement with some of the smoke detectors like this one. If you read the listing/ battery requirement on the units, they only allow specific batteries to be used. Often, the lithium batteries are not listed. The ones I checked yesterday only allowed one brand and model of battery.

Matt,

I'm curious... how many supposed 10 year lithium batteries have you run into that are dead?

Funny timing..... I was just talking with someone about this. The "10 year" batteries seem to be lasting about 5. I've been finding a lot of dead ones.

I gave up checking batteries awhile ago..... I test the detectors and call them out if they have no hush button or are obviously over the 10 year life expectancy (it seems 'hush' buttons became standard about 10 years ago so it's kind of easy lately).