Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

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bob1234
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by bob1234 »

Any difference quality-wise between Kidde and First Alert brands?
zlandar
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by zlandar »

How many hard-wired smoke alarms do you need to replace? If it's a half-dozen or more I would suggest getting a pack from Lowe's:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/First-Alert-6- ... or/3031840

6 for $75 is hard to beat. If you swap out all your smoke alarms at the same time you can also change the battery backups at the same time to minimize the low battery chirps.
killjoy2012
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by killjoy2012 »

Kidde smoke and CO detectors sold at Home Depot have operated as expected for us for decades, and are very affordable. Really don't see the need for spending $50-100 per device.

If you're worried about safety, I'd be more inclined to spend your time and money with ensuring your sensor placement supports the latest versions of the NEC, especially if you have a house more than 10 years old. e.g. smokes in each bedroom, in the hallway, at least one per floor, CO as specified, etc. All wired together.

I would caution replacing all with CO sensors. There are areas of the house that are prone to nuisance trips - such as in the basement by/in your utility room. You will get some CO by the furnace and HWH, esp if older.
NYGiantsFan
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by NYGiantsFan »

ram wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 12:46 pm
SpaethCo wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 6:48 pm I loaded up on Nest Protect smoke alarms last year as part of a Black Friday $75ea sale. https://store.google.com/us/product/nes ... s?hl=en-US

Combo ionization & photoelectric smoke sensor
Humidity sensor to apply logic to prevent steam from triggering the alarm
CO sensor included

These offer a bunch of nice features, like you can turn them into motion-sensing night lights. The alarm triggers in stages, starting with voice warnings at low levels of CO / smoke, and clearly identifies via voice which detector sourced the alarm. You also get push notifications on your phone when the alarm goes off, and the ability to silence the alert using the app.

Battery health and a bunch of other self checks run constantly, and it does an alarm speaker test once a month. If the battery runs low on one of the units, you’ll know exactly which one it is via the push notification — not just a random chirp at 2am.
I like this option. Will put one/floor.
Will wait for black friday sale.
You can get almost same price if you have Kohl's credit card at anytime. Nest products are avail on Kohl's online store and Kohl frequently has 30% or more discount code almost every other week.
We replaced 3 units last year similarly.
TLC1957
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by TLC1957 »

The information below is from NFPA the organization has been writing building and fire prevention code for 125 years. Your local code officials have adopted NFPA. They say your smoke detector should have both Ionization and photoelectric technologies to provide the best chance of detecting a fire and living. I provide this information as a fire safety professional for 36 years and a firefighter.

The two most commonly recognized smoke detection technologies are ionization smoke detection and photoelectric smoke detection.

Ionization smoke alarms are generally more responsive to flaming fires.
How they work: Ionization-type smoke alarms have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates, which ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the flow of ions, thus reducing the flow of current and activating the alarm. Download this chart on ionization smoke alarms.

Photoelectric smoke alarms are generally more responsive to fires that begin with a long period of smoldering (called “smoldering fires”).
How they work: Photoelectric-type alarms aim a light source into a sensing chamber at an angle away from the sensor. Smoke enters the chamber, reflecting light onto the light sensor; triggering the alarm. Download this chart on photoelectric smoke alarms.

For each type of smoke alarm, the advantage it provides may be critical to life safety in some fire situations. Home fatal fires, day or night, include a large number of smoldering fires and a large number of flaming fires. You can not predict the type of fire you may have in your home or when it will occur. Any smoke alarm technology, to be acceptable, must perform acceptably for both types of fires in order to provide early warning of fire at all times of the day or night and whether you are asleep or awake.


For best protection, it is recommended both (ionization and photoelectric) technologies be used in homes. In addition to individual ionization and photoelectric alarms, combination alarms that include both technologies in a single device are available.


https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/S ... toelectric


Here is an example I have in my home.

https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us ... ms/pi2010/

The Kidde Pi2010 is a 120VAC, wire-in smoke alarm with 9V battery backup. This smoke alarm functions as a stand alone unit or in an interconnected system. The Kidde Pi2010 features Hush®, allowing you to quickly silence nuisance alarms and also includes a tamper resist features that deters tampering and theft. The Pi2010 includes a quick connect power harness that allows for quick and easy installation.

This smoke alarm combines both photoelectric and ionization sensors. Ionization sensing alarms may detect invisible fire particles (associated with flaming fires) sooner than photoelectric alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect visible particles (associated with smoldering fires) sooner than ionization alarms. Kidde strongly recommends that both ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms be installed to help insure maximum detection of the various types of fire that can occur within the home.

The Kidde Pi2010, 120VAC, wire-in smoke alarm with 9V battery back up provides continuous protection against smoke and fire hazards, even during power outages. The Kidde Pi2010 interconnects with up to 24 Kidde devices of which 18 can be initiating. This unit also includes flashing LEDs to signal the alarm is functioning properly, a low battery warning and a loud 85dB alarm. The Kidde Pi2010 is UL Listed and includes a 10-year limited warranty.
bob1234
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by bob1234 »

Thanks everyone for the responses. I need to replace 6 units. My townhouse has 3 floors: 3 bedrooms on top floor, (each has alarm), 1 alarm in top floor hallway, 1 alarm on main floor near kitchen, 1 alarm in basement. Thinking I would do a mix of ionization alarms and photoelectric, maybe 3 of each? Any recommendation on where to place each type of alarm. The one near the kitchen is prone to false alarms due to cooking.

I also have fire sprinklers installed in my house.
Last edited by bob1234 on Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Normchad
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by Normchad »

bob1234 wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:52 pm Thanks everyone for the responses. I need to replace 6 units. My townhouse has 3 floors: 3 bedrooms on top floor, (each has alarm), 1 alarm in top floor hallway, 1 alarm on main floor near kitchen, 1 alarm in basement. Thinking I would do a mix of ionization alarms and photoelectric, maybe 3 of each? Any recommendation on where to place each type of alarm. The one near the kitchen is prone to false alarms due to cooking.
I’d take one down, and take it to the store with you. Look for a replacement with an identical plug to the one you have. That way it only takes about 5 minutes to replace each alarm.

I recent,y did this, and the ones I bought came with some additional (adapter wiring pig tails), presumably so they could replace other brands as well.

I think the one I bought was from Kidde and was 14-17 bucks.
TLC1957
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by TLC1957 »

bob1234 wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:52 pm Thanks everyone for the responses. I need to replace 6 units. My townhouse has 3 floors: 3 bedrooms on top floor, (each has alarm), 1 alarm in top floor hallway, 1 alarm on main floor near kitchen, 1 alarm in basement. Thinking I would do a mix of ionization alarms and photoelectric, maybe 3 of each? Any recommendation on where to place each type of alarm. The one near the kitchen is prone to false alarms due to cooking.

I also have fire sprinklers installed in my house.
As I noted above you want combo unit ionization/photoelectric with the exception of the unit near the kitchen get a photoelectric unit to reduce false alarms.

Outstanding you have fire sprinklers in your home. They are designed to activate very early in a fire and control or extinguish the fire. I have read reports of fires starting in bed either from smoking or electric blanket failure and the person in the bed survived the fire.

FYI sprinklers need to be tested as noted below from NFPA 25. Just something to keep in mind. The date of manufacture is on the sprinkler.


5.3.1.1.1.3* Sprinklers manufactured using fast-response elements that have been in service for 20 years shall be replaced or representative samples shall be tested and then retested at 10-year intervals.
bob1234
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by bob1234 »

Thanks TLC1957 for the detailed responses!
howard71
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by howard71 »

I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by quantAndHold »

We had multiple ones of the cheap Kidde's start false alarming randomly after about 18 months, often in the middle of the night. Reading the Amazon reviews, it's a common problem with those. We threw them all out and replaced them with First Alerts that were highly rated on Amazon. No problems so far (2 years). We put a combo one in the bedroom, photoelectric near the kitchen, and ionization elsewhere.
TLC1957
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by TLC1957 »

howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
hudson
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by hudson »

TLC1957 wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:59 pm For best protection, it is recommended both (ionization and photoelectric) technologies be used in homes. In addition to individual ionization and photoelectric alarms, combination alarms that include both technologies in a single device are available.
Thanks TLC1957!
Useful info!
I have new ionization/wired alarms installed. When I replace them, I'll use the dual units.
In the mean time, I'll put up two of these: https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-SA51 ... 10&sr=1-32#
Normchad
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by Normchad »

TLC1957 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:02 pm
howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
I actually do replace mine every ten years. Honestly though, I have never met another human being who did this, or was even aware of it.

And yes, for some reason, they only chirp due to a low battery at 2am. Never any other time, only in the middle of the night….
howard71
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by howard71 »

TLC1957 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:02 pm
howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
Thanks for that info. I tried looking for replacements but they don't seem to make mine any more. They do still work when there is smoke in the kitchen so I'm not too worried about them.
TLC1957
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by TLC1957 »

Normchad wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:11 pm
TLC1957 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:02 pm
howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
I actually do replace mine every ten years. Honestly though, I have never met another human being who did this, or was even aware of it.

And yes, for some reason, they only chirp due to a low battery at 2am. Never any other time, only in the middle of the night….
From a firefighter and loss prevention professional point of view… I have lost count on how many single station smoke detectors have no battery! Same story….it kept going off so I removed the battery!! What gets me is they put the detector back in place with no battery!!!
Normchad
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by Normchad »

TLC1957 wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:14 pm
Normchad wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:11 pm
TLC1957 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:02 pm
howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
I actually do replace mine every ten years. Honestly though, I have never met another human being who did this, or was even aware of it.

And yes, for some reason, they only chirp due to a low battery at 2am. Never any other time, only in the middle of the night….
From a firefighter and loss prevention professional point of view… I have lost count on how many single station smoke detectors have no battery! Same story….it kept going off so I removed the battery!! What gets me is they put the detector back in place with no battery!!!
That’s really a tragedy. I’ve got about 8 detectors in my house, so,I buy the batteries in bulk at Costco and change them all at once. Generally I have to do this because I have a hard time figuring out exactly which one is chirping sometimes. So I do it to save myself time and frustration. The detectors are also hardwired.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by quantAndHold »

howard71 wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:54 pm
TLC1957 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:02 pm
howard71 wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:20 pm I have hard wired smoke alarms that were installed as original equipment on my house when it was built in 1997 (I bought it in 2006).

It's only happened 3 or 4 times that I can recall but I have had them go off in the middle of the night for no obvious reason. Usually it's just one, but one time I was awakened by one and as I was trying to decide whether to turn off the circuit breaker that controls it, another one went off.

Eventually it all stopped. Been a couple of years since it's happened now.
FYI as per NFPA 72 which is referenced by all local and state fire codes, smoke detectors are required to be replaced every 10 years. Have you tested the smoke detector, if not sure how review a manufacturer website for details.
Thanks for that info. I tried looking for replacements but they don't seem to make mine any more. They do still work when there is smoke in the kitchen so I'm not too worried about them.
You don’t need to get the exact same kind. The two kinds are hardwired or not (if it is connected with a wire, it’s hard wired), and photoelectric, ionization, or combo. Just get a multi pack of the ten year ones that are either hardwired or not (whichever you need), take down the old ones, and put up the new.
jgy2001
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by jgy2001 »

Our Northern California home built on 1977 has a built-in Gard-Site Smoke Detector model 081-612. It does not has battery. Its mounted on the ceiling. We assume its AC hardwired, correct? How do we disconnect and remove it? Thank you very much for your help.

It's made by CASADY ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES Torrance CA
Cannot find any details on this company. Just marked merger out.

https://ibb.co/NTWy7vd
Last edited by jgy2001 on Sun Jul 30, 2023 6:35 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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A440
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by A440 »

I use these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0993 ... UTF8&psc=1
Kidde 6 pack smoke detectors.
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BUBear29
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by BUBear29 »

we have 7 Nest Protects (love the auto testing, notifications, etc). Also in each bedroom with a gas line passing through the wall and near my attic doors I have the First Alert Explosive Gas Detectors. These also double as our travel CO detectors. I also have a gas wand that I use periodically when in the attic, like when changing filters, etc. Can never be too careful.
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bradinsky
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Re: Hard Wired smoke alarms. Recommendations.

Post by bradinsky »

jgy2001 wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2023 3:08 pm Our Northern California home built on 1977 has a built-in Gard-Site Smoke Detector model 081-612. It does not has battery. Its mounted on the ceiling. We assume its AC hardwired, correct? How do we disconnect and remove it? Thank you very much for your help.

It's made by CASADY ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES Torrance CA
Cannot find any details on this company. Just marked merger out.

https://ibb.co/NTWy7vd
I would just replace it with another hard wired smoke detector with battery backup. That would be much easier than removing the old one, terminating the wiring in a work box, patching the hole & trying to match the ceiling texture.
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