For the first time in smoke detector history...

[dishdude]

This thing started beeping at 10:30 AM! Every other time it was the middle of the night. It's 15' in the air, so I'd be woken up, look at it and feel defeated. While I had the ladder out I felt obligated to clean the other objects that far up that haven't been cleaned in years...a chandelier, ceiling fan and exhaust fan in the master bath. Like I need this in my life!

I had a "new" 9V that had a best by date of 03-2020 on it I put in.

 

[brianl703]

My theory as to why they beep in the middle of the night (for a low battery, anyway):

The low battery detector simply measures the voltage of the battery.

The voltage of a battery is dependent upon temperature. Lower temperatures decrease the voltage.

The temperature in most houses is lowest after midnight (unless you're one of those people who has the AC set lower during the day than at night. I prefer it to be lower at night).

Therefore, the low battery warning will start happening after midnight, when the temperature inside the house is lowest.

 

[Nick1994]

I had that at night sometime last year, and here's the current state of it . There is a new one about 15 feet away that's linked up to ADT though so this one wasn't really needed. Have been meaning to get a new one that hopefully uses the same mount to put in it's place but I keep forgetting it every time I go to Home Depot.

 

[Chris142]

The ones we have don't have replaceable batteries. I hate them. Supposed to last 10 years. Ours don't last 3

 

[brianl703]

A while ago one of my smoke detectors started beeping every few minutes. I couldn't figure out which one or why (and there are 7 of them, all interconnected) so I just went through and pushed the self-test button on all of them one after the other. That stopped it. They've been fine since.

 

[brianl703]

The ones we have don't have replaceable batteries. I hate them. Supposed to last 10 years. Ours don't last 3

I'd consider installing an AC powered one, which can usually be done by tapping power from an adjacent light fixture. Should last the full 10 years.

 

[oldcodger]

Had a friend who moved into a house which had three of the normal wall mounted detectors. About six months later they keep hearing a faint beeping sound. The acoustics made it almost impossible to pinpoint the location. Drove him nuts. Finally I told him the check the attic. Sure enough one was installed in the attic near the heating unit. You just couldn't tie down the location of the faint beep when you were in the house.

 

[dishdude]

This thing is hardwired with a 9V backup! I swear it's out to torment me.

 

[brianl703]

Had a friend who moved into a house which had three of the normal wall mounted detectors. About six months later they keep hearing a faint beeping sound. The acoustics made it almost impossible to pinpoint the location. Drove him nuts. Finally I told him the check the attic. Sure enough one was installed in the attic near the heating unit. You just couldn't tie down the location of the faint beep when you were in the house.

Unless it's an insulated attic, or a rate-of-rise heat detector, you don't install a regular smoke detector in a regular attic. They are not designed to work at the temperatures found in a typical attic..

 

[BigCahuna]

We had combo unit in the hallway outside our bedroom. When it went off there was a voice that would announce what the situation was. Well, one night, it started sounding the low battery message. My 90 pound boxer heard the voice and jumped into "defend the house at all cost " mode. He went fully nuts looking for the source of the unknown voice. Beside giving the wife and me a heart attack, we were able to find humor in it.,,

 

[blufeb95]

Makes me glad that I live in a single story house with standard 8ft ceilings , at 6'2", I can just reach up without so much as a step stool and take down a smoke detector or change a light bulb.

 

[Tomioka]

I try to find those smoke detectors that take AA's and throw Energizer Lithiums in them. Those "10 year" smoke detectors that use the single 3v battery don't even last that long.

 

[Wolf359]

This thing is hardwired with a 9V backup! I swear it's out to torment me.

I've always used lithium batteries in those 9v applications. Used to find them on eBay for less than the regular price. They do last about 10 years and it's worth it not having to replace them every year or two.

 

[paulo57509]

I had to replace the AC, battery back-up smoke detectors (they were way over 10 years old) with non-replaceable battery ones because CA outlawed battery backup ~7 years ago.

 

[TheLawnRanger]

Say, is that the Firex i4618AC?

 

[nthach]

I try to find those smoke detectors that take AA's and throw Energizer Lithiums in them. Those "10 year" smoke detectors that use the single 3v battery don't even last that long.

In CA, unless it’s a “smart” smoke like a Google Nest/First Alert with Alexa or a interconnected model(again, First Alert), all must be a 10 year sealed model. I’ve installed a mix of Kidde and First Alert “sealed” models. The Kidde uses a CR123 1/2 AA lithium cell, the First Alert uses a CR2450 cell. Haven’t had a complaint over either. I use a mix of First Alert interconnected and Nest for the parent’s place.

I always use Energizer Lithium AA or Amazon Basics 9V lithium in smokes. Avoid ionizing smokes - always use photoelectric. The Google Nest smokes are cool in the fact there’s a heat sensor and a CO sensor in them. You don’t see commercial fire systems(Honeywell Silent Knight/Notifier/Fire-Lite, Edwards EST or Simplex) with ionizing smokes, they all use photoelectric smokes with heat sensors(either integrated with the smokes or separate).

 

[football]

Smoke detectors need replaced every ten years. I pulled them all down when I changed the batteries in the spring, and wrote the dates down so I know when to replace them.

For a smoke detector 15 feet up in the air, definitely throw a lithium ten year battery in it so you don’t have to worry about it.

Yes the smoke detectors with the built in batteries SUCK. They say ten year life but I’m seeing 18-24 month life spans out of them.

Carbon monoxide detectors are good for 7 years.

Yea it cost money to properly maintain these and swap them out on schedule. But what’s your life worth?

The guy above that uninstalled his smoke detector gives me the heebie jeebies. I’d drive to Home Depot TODAY and get that fixed. Seriously.

 

[nthach]

The Google Nest Protects will give a notice via the app and aurally when it’s time to get to get a new detector.

The CO sensor is a fuel cell, a electrochemical device so the lifespan is finite. The smoke sensor can be photoelectric using a photocell and an LED, much like an optical mouse or a ionizing sensor with a small bit of americium. Consumer ones should be changed every 10 years, though commercial systems can go much longer as long as the system is inspected and tested(place panel in test mode, call the monitoring station and use canned smoke to test each detector).

 

[ZeeOSix]

Always go with a lithium battery on those high and hard to get to smoke alarms - it's worth the little extra battery cost. Also blow the dust out of the guts while it's down.

 

[Wolf359]

In CA, unless it’s a “smart” smoke like a Google Nest/First Alert with Alexa or a interconnected model(again, First Alert), all must be a 10 year sealed model. I’ve installed a mix of Kidde and First Alert “sealed” models. The Kidde uses a CR123 1/2 AA lithium cell, the First Alert uses a CR2450 cell. Haven’t had a complaint over either. I use a mix of First Alert interconnected and Nest for the parent’s place.

I always use Energizer Lithium AA or Amazon Basics 9V lithium in smokes. Avoid ionizing smokes - always use photoelectric. The Google Nest smokes are cool in the fact there’s a heat sensor and a CO sensor in them. You don’t see commercial fire systems(Honeywell Silent Knight/Notifier/Fire-Lite, Edwards EST or Simplex) with ionizing smokes, they all use photoelectric smokes with heat sensors(either integrated with the smokes or separate).

I don't think the Google Nest smoke/co alarms have heat detectors like regular heat detectors like the HD135 which has an operating temperature range of -20 to 100F. The Nest ones are only good for between 40-100. That means they can't be installed in unheated garages or attics as they won't really work when it's below 40. And there's no fix for it. Had to remove a bunch of Nest ones because they don't have a model or a way to interconnect the Nest ones to a hardwired heat detector in an unheated garage.

Usually the replace every 10 years is because most residential ones only go up to 10 years for a warranty, some commercial systems can go longer. Our smoke alarm regulations really apply when selling a home. As for carbon monoxide alarms, they're good for 7-10 years, depends on the manufacturer. Originally when they came out they were only good for 7 years but now some of the newer ones are good for 10 years. I don't like combo smoke and carbon monoxide alarms because of that, you have to throw the entire thing away if one of them goes bad. Otherwise basic photoelectric alarms can still be good past 10 years although the recommendation is to change them after 10 years.