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Smoke detectors

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  • #1

    Smoke detectors

    Who has hardwired smoke detectors? Which one do you have and do you like it?

    Some of ours have started to go "bad" and if you have the hardwired variety you know that when one goes off they ALL go off. You also know that they only seem to ALL go off in the wee hours of the morning or when someone is taking a nap in order to sufficiently scare the hell out of everyone in the house. We have ten detectors so when they all go off you feel like your ears may start to bleed.

    Anyway, I just want to replace them all at this point. Does anyone have any recommendations or units to avoid?
    Tara
    Married 20 years to MD/PhD in year 3 of MFM fellowship. SAHM to five wonderful children (#6 due in August), a sweet GSD named Bella, a black lab named Toby, and 1 guinea pig.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    We just used whatever the alarm company installed. I'll see if I can see what kind they are. I also have battery alarms in case the hardwired ones go on the frtiz.

    Jenn

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    • #3
      We do, but I have no idea what kind they are. They were installed when the house was built, and my ceilings are too high for me to see the name ...

      One was beeping awhile back and dh changed the backup battery, which corrected the issue. He then proceeded to get pissy with me when I insisted he change ALL of the backup batteries at the same time. Ummm ... waiting until they go bad is NOT a good plan in this instance. Especially considering that he's not here about 85% of the time.

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      • #4
        We just had a bunch of electrical work done on the new house, and I thought about putting in hardwired smoke detectors, but decided to just get a bunch of battery ones from costco and install them myself.
        Ceilings and walls are all plaster, and rewiring is a big job.
        Is there an advantage to hard-wired, other than not having to change batteries? oh - I guess you could have central monitoring too?
        Enabler of DW and 5 kids
        Let's go Mets!

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        • #5
          The one advantage of our hard wired ones is that when one goes off they all go off - but I think some of the battery powered ones do that to, don't they? I don't know what brand ours are either, sorry.
          Wife to NSG out of training, mom to 2, 10 & 8, and a beagle with wings.

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          • #6
            We have one that is a smoke detector and a Carbon Monoxide detector too. Not sure of the brand, but I like that it has both features.
            Brandi
            Wife to PGY3 Rads also proud mother of three spoiled dogs!! Some days it is hectic, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.




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            • #7
              Originally posted by bokelley View Post
              We have one that is a smoke detector and a Carbon Monoxide detector too. Not sure of the brand, but I like that it has both features.
              That seems...odd to me. I'd think you'd want a smoke detector up high, and a CO detector down low, for best/earliest detection...I could be wrong, though...
              Sandy
              Wife of EM Attending, Web Programmer, mom to one older lady scaredy-cat and one sweet-but-dumb younger boy kitty

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              • #8
                Originally posted by poky View Post
                That seems...odd to me. I'd think you'd want a smoke detector up high, and a CO detector down low, for best/earliest detection...I could be wrong, though...
                Never thought about it before, but it does make sense that the CO should be lower...
                Brandi
                Wife to PGY3 Rads also proud mother of three spoiled dogs!! Some days it is hectic, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.




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                • #9
                  I've seen those dual ones and wondered the same thing...
                  Wife to NSG out of training, mom to 2, 10 & 8, and a beagle with wings.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by fluffhead View Post
                    Is there an advantage to hard-wired, other than not having to change batteries?
                    Hard-wired detectors still require batteries for backup power (at least ours do). I'm not sure what the advantage is of hardwired....a backup power source in case the other one fails? Ours were already installed by the time we moved in so I have no idea what brand they are.

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                    • #11
                      The reason for hardwired is definitely that when one goes off, they all go off. The reason for that, as well as combining CO with fire is that, the mostly likely scenario for a fatal fire or fatal CO poisoning is during sleep. In homes of non-smokers, fires rarely start in bedrooms and by the time the detector near or in your bedroom would go off, escape may be nearly impossible (it's actually pretty hard to hear a smoke alarm while sleeping - especially for kids). With CO, we have detectors that are separate and low but also built in. I don't know if I would without young kids, but they are affected so much more quickly than adults. As for brand, I don't know which ones we have either. Have you called the fire department to see if they have a rec? I did prevention work at the fire department years ago, and we got similar calls very frequently.
                      -Deb
                      Wife to EP, just trying to keep up with my FOUR busy kids!

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                      • #12
                        Thanks all. I called my alarm company and they told me to take them all down and give the units a good vacuum, as well as the wiring in the wall (think I will turn off the breaker for that). Dust and spiders are the biggest culprits of false alarms. Holy moly, I'm scared of how dirty these things will be, and just how many spiders I may find.
                        Tara
                        Married 20 years to MD/PhD in year 3 of MFM fellowship. SAHM to five wonderful children (#6 due in August), a sweet GSD named Bella, a black lab named Toby, and 1 guinea pig.

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