Kidde Smoke and CO Detectors

[Snagglefoot]

I just replaced my Smoke/ CO detectors in my house. They are made by Kidde and were model KN-COSM-IBCA. They were wired into my house before I put the drywall on in 2011. They had 9 volt back up batteries and had a voice that said either Fire or Carbon monoxide and since these were Canadian models they also repeated it in in French. ( Your house is on fire, eh. )

They are now timed out (7 years according to Kidde) and rather than try squeezie a few years more I went out and bought new ones. One of the disappointments of the originals is that the CO detection in my garage was too sensitive and even just idling a car for a few minutes would set it off, so I removed it and had a battery operated smoke detector in the garage.

I phoned the Kidde helpline and they said they had not only a plug and play replacement, they could provide a plug and place replacement smoke detector for the garage ( without a CO detector). The replacements for the originals were model KN-COSM-IBACA. The smoke only detector was PC040CA. The lady at the helpline had a sweet southern accent and the words Canadian Tire sounded really cool but a bit out of place. Home Depot also sold them. I was fortunate enough to catch the Black Friday sale price at Canadian Tire. Bonus!

Anyway, it was truly plug and play and I did not have to install new wiring harnesses. If one alarm goes off the others will too. An added advantage was the voice models came with a battery compartment in the front so I did not have to remove the unit from the ceiling to replace the batteries. They now use two double A's instead of a 9 volt. Also the one in the garage is a photo electric model to catch a smouldering garage fire. The units are supposedly good for 10 years.

Newer technology now available is a built in battery with 10 year life and also, wireless WI-FI. The price was a bit more than I wanted and I was already wired in so WI-FI wasn't a big draw for me. Here are a few picks of the harness that was already installed (plug and play) and the packages. Enjoy.

 

[eljefino]

Wi-fi, you say? Seems like one more thing to remember in 5 years when someone gets a new router.

I got a CO detector on ebay for $5 for the garage which went in with a ventless propane heater. I don't sleep out there so I didn't spring for the name brand.

Hasn't falsely alerted on car exhaust yet. Has to be >300 ppm for a certain while and >50 for a longer while, etc.

 

[Greggy_D]

Wi-Fi? Why?

 

[eljefino]

I assume that if you have the kidde app on your phone your house can let you know wherever you are around the world that it's on fire.

 

[Wolf359]

That's why I don't like the combo's. The fire alarm is normally good for 10 years and the carbons are typically only 5 or 7 although there are newer models out now that claim that they're also good for 10 years. Plus the combo's cost more than two separate smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Normally I just sell houses and do the smoke/carbon monoxide alarms so the extra cost of the batteries over the years doesn't really apply. But normally the hardwired photoelectrics are around $15-$17 each and the carbons are about the same price. The combos are usually more like $50.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by Greggy_D
Wi-Fi? Why?


So when an alarm in one room goes off, they all go off. That way if the fire starts in the basement you'll be notified in say, your bedroom.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Originally Posted by Greggy_D
Wi-Fi? Why?


So when an alarm in one room goes off, they all go off. That way if the fire starts in the basement you'll be notified in say, your bedroom.


That way you will know to grab the fire extinguisher and run back to the bedroom to put the fire out ;-).

Or go running around the house sniffing with your nose in every room. Meanwhile, as fire tends to do when given extra time to do it's work, the house will burn to the ground before you, your fire extinguisher, and your nose makes it to the basement. Cool feature. What will those Millennial Engineers think of next?

Hot Tip: buy loads of insurance; building and contents. Profit!