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Thread: Smoke Detectors

  1. #1
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    Smoke Detectors

    When I changed the batteries in my smoke detectors earlier this month I saw that I'm due for new ones next year. I'd like to buy wireless, interconnected, battery operated, dual sensor units. Is there such a creature? House was built in 1988 and my alarms are not hard wired.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  2. #2
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    I am an electrician in Massachusetts and I have not seen nor heard of such an animal. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist, they would probably be so expensive that I wouldn’t have run into them. If you do find such a product, please let us know about it.

  3. #3
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    I was unable to find dual sensor interconnected when I purchased just recently. I decided dual sensor was more important than interconnected in my small home so I skipped it.

  4. #4
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    I am assuming that dual sensor is referring to combination smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. In Massachusetts the smoke detector must be photo-electric, not ionization, if it is the only detector on the floor. Both Lowes, and Home Depot sell hardwired, interconnected, battery back-up, smoke detectors, and combination carbon monoxide/smoke detectors. I just got a 3 pack of them for $129.

  5. #5
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    The dual sensor would be photo and ion, no CO. I thought I saw the electrician on TOH put one in but maybe it wasn't dual sensor.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  6. #6
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    There probably are combination ionization/photo-electric detectors, but both of these types of coverage are not required, at least residentially. Carbon monoxide protection is required on all levels of living space, and by most boilers/burners. Ionization has better detection capabilities for certain types of fires, but photo-electric is the type required. It is the interconnected capability that really saves lives. Fire starts in basement, bedrooms on the second floor, you get so much more time to be awakened and get out. Also huge where CO is concerned, most of the time the CO is produced by a burner/boiler in basement (or generator in a house/basement/garage, as occurred a couple of weeks ago during the power outages from a wind storm, here), people up stairs get a warning before the CO affects their consciousness/decision making process. Not that my opinion carries any more weight than anyone else’s, but in my day to day experiences, seat belts and interconnected smokes, are two of the most effective safety devices we have.

  7. #7
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    Kiddie makes a battery operated wireless interconnected smoke detector. It is not a dual sensor. I have them in my house and we also installed them in our church buildings. They use 3 AA sized batteries and the batteries easily last one year. Kiddie Smoke Detector

    Upon further review Kiddie makes a wireless dual CO/Smoke detector

    These all work without any alarm system or smart phone.
    Last edited by Lee Schierer; 11-13-2017 at 10:04 AM.
    Lee Schierer
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  8. #8
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    If you have a home security system, you may be able to do the wireless "interconnected" thing, too, depending on the make/model of the security system.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    Nest makes wireless interconnected smoke detectors. Not cheap, but includes a CO detector in each unit too. They claim to detect both fast and slow burning fires using a "Split Spectrum" sensor. And there's some nice features through the app like being able to silence the thing when burn the bacon. There are 120V units with battery backup and battery powered units, both of which claim "multiple years" of battery life. Looks like a pretty nice option but will cost you about $100 per location.

    And per Jim's post. In addition to the original hard wired smoke detectors in our house we have a wireless one on each floor from the alarm company. The alarm system with both burglar and fire reporting to a call center qualifies us for a discount on our homeowners insurance that pays about half the recurring cost of the system each year.
    Last edited by Matt Meiser; 11-13-2017 at 9:02 AM.


  10. #10
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    No home security system or smart phone. Could I make this any more difficult?
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Bruette View Post
    When I changed the batteries in my smoke detectors earlier this month I saw that I'm due for new ones next year. I'd like to buy wireless, interconnected, battery operated, dual sensor units. Is there such a creature? House was built in 1988 and my alarms are not hard wired.
    Good thing you don't live in California, where alarms MUST be hard wired by law. You can't get a purely battery operated unit. I know, I tried. Amazon can't even ship them to California. So I had to pull wiring in three bedrooms that had old battery-operated alarms when I bought the house. It isn't hard to do but it was a pain.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    Good thing you don't live in California, where alarms MUST be hard wired by law. You can't get a purely battery operated unit. I know, I tried.
    That's odd: I just bought and installed two last week. Didn't have to look all that hard, they had four or five different ones at Home Depot.
    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-Tw...7467/206656547
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  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    That's odd: I just bought and installed two last week. Didn't have to look all that hard, they had four or five different ones at Home Depot.
    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-Tw...7467/206656547
    That's what I was told by both my real estate agent and the home inspector. They have outlawed replaceable battery units and when I tried to import some via Amazon, it refused to let me get them. I think the plan is to force hard wired units with battery backups, which of course are a lot more expensive than the old $10 smoke detectors that you used to be able to get.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    That's what I was told by both my real estate agent and the home inspector. They have outlawed replaceable battery units and when I tried to import some via Amazon, it refused to let me get them. I think the plan is to force hard wired units with battery backups, which of course are a lot more expensive than the old $10 smoke detectors that you used to be able to get.
    Key phrase there is "replaceable battery": the ones I bought are powered by 10-year soldered-in lithium batteries...you replace the whole unit when the battery tells you it's about to die.

    (And actually they cost slightly more each than the hard-wired ones, but still less than what it would take to pull wire, patch drywall/paint etc.)
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  15. #15
    Ask This Old House installed this model on a recent episode. I noticed these for sale at the Verizon Wireless store the other day.




    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XV1RD0K...d=DZQNXY4PDYZ9

    Nest.jpg


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