CO Alarm with 10 yr. Lithium Battery?

[doitmyself]

Anyone have experience with the relatively new CO alarms with "worry free" 10 year (warranteed)lithium batteries?

My current plug in CO detectors are at their end-of-life and I'm looking to purchase new ones. I want to believe these are safer than the exploding laptop/phone ones since they don't require any recharging technology. Cost, when considering annual backup battery replacement is a wash.

Its sometimes tough for us old curmudgeons to embrace new technology!

Have a good week everyone.

 

[racer12306]

I don't think you'll have an issue. They have been installing this setup in non-AC powered smoke alarms for a while now.


Besides, the number of batteries that have caught fire/exploded are a trivial percentage of the total number of lithium batteries built.

 

[skyactiv]

I had an alarm clock I put a 9V Ultralife lithium in for the power backup and it lasted forever.

 

[opus1]

I don't think this will be a problem -- remember, the exploding laptops and cell phones use rechargeable batteries.

 

[NateDN10]

Also, primary (i.e. non-rechargeable) lithium batteries are a completely different type than secondary (i.e. rechargeable) laptop/cell phone batteries. No need to worry.

 

[larryinnewyork]

I have 2 Smoke/CO Detectors HARD WIRED in my house. Bought at H.D.
One outside the bedrooms and another in the basement next to the Furnace.
Besides being hard-wired, they have a 10 year battery.
Their the only kind I would buy / I don't want to change batteries every year.

Save your receipt.
I write the Month/Year on the Detector so I can walk past it and know how much longer it should last.

I installed one for my 81 year old Uncle and liked the fact he would not have to be changing batteries.

 

[Olas]

Mains electricity

 

[NHGUY]

CO detectors have a pre determined lifespan which I think is 7-8 years... a 10 year battery could outlast the unit itself.

 

[veryHeavy]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
I want to believe these are safer than the exploding laptop/phone ones since they don't require any recharging technology.

You answered your own question.

If there was an issue, they would have caught fire in the store months ago.

 

[Wolf359]

Yeah, you're confusing the two. The ones in the smoke detector/carbon monoxide detectors are lithium batteries. They don't recharge and have no history of exploding. The ones in laptops and phones are lithium ion, they're different.

Carbon monoxide alarms use an electro chemical sensor which is only good for 7 years. In theory a regular smoke alarm is good for 10+ years but the ones that come with the lithium battery are sealed so I think you're forced to throw it away after the battery is dead. I've used Ultralife Lithium batteries before, some are still going strong a few died after 3-4 years but I'm not sure if that was because there was a lot of false alarms or if the design of the smoke detector drew too much current or it was just a bad battery. I've got some old smoke detectors that are 15-20 years old. I just stick those in bedrooms, I usually have one or two newer ones, the old ones usually just came with the house when I bought it.

I'd still prefer to buy the ones that use batteries. You can get a lithium battery for $5-$6 but they mark up the ones that have the 10 year battery by around $10.

In my state, they now require 10 year lithium batteries in smoke detectors on the theory that the tenants can't take the battery out, but if they can't shut it up, they just take them down and stick them in a drawer so it doesn't really fix the problem, but now I have to spend more for smoke alarms.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I got a "Kid-ehh" 117VAC CO for big bucks at the Orange big-box "lumbar" Yaad. I Thought my Magic Chef unvented propane range was putting out CO in the kitchen but after "install" the detector never moved past -0-. Hardest part was figuring out how to pull the orange tang out to plug it in. It has an "end of life" lever near the plug that is a bit confusing even for a guy working with edge of art E-tech. Instruction are the worst ive read for a US documented product.

 

[veryHeavy]

P.S.

Lithiums typically catch fire when their voltage is pushed too high. That happens during the charging process (in this case: At the factory).

 

[doitmyself]

Thanks for educating me on the differences of lithium batteries.

FYI, nearly all of the Kidde CO detectors have increased their end-of-life cycle to 10 years, from the earlier 7 years. Also, its important that everyone realizes that the UL specifications for CO sensitivity is a compromise to avoid fire departments responding to low level/false alarms (IMO). They only sound an alarm based on a time weighted basis (concentration vs. time) and their sensitivity below 30 ppm may be a problem for some. If someone is very sensitive to CO, they should spend a lot more money on a better system.

 

[Carbuff]

I was researching CO and smoke detectors last fall. Many of the reviews of both types mention premature battery failure, necessitating replacement after only 3 - 5 years.

 

[exranger06]

I installed one last year. It hasn't exploded yet...