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We have 2 detectors in the house, one on the second floor and one in the basement. I want to put one in all the bedrooms. I got some really nice Kidde silhouette detectors a while back. They are low profile, ac powered with a backup battery. It seems Kidde has moved away from ac with battery for the most part. I didn't find an ac + battery model that is appropriate to bedrooms, they all have lights. I guess the ones with 10 year batteries are just as good, but you have to be on top of things to make sure they get switched out when the battery goes. And Kidde reliability seems questionable.
If I have to switch everything out, I might as well switch brands. Anyone have recommendations on this?
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Not specifically, but any smoke detector has a limited lifespan, so tossing it when the 10 year battery runs out is not much different than hard-wired in that sense. Though I prefer (and have) hardwired detectors all over the house, in large part because of the interconnection resulting in one triggering all, especially in the bedrooms.
I think the rules require one in each bedroom, one in every hallway outside bedrooms, and at least one on each floor, including the basement, as applicable. Obviously there is overlap in those requirements, especially if you only have a ranch house.
And that reminds me - mine are due for replacement across the board. I hope hardwired is still available, as I put a lot of effort into running 14/3 NM to power all ten of them.
Tom
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I would make suggestions, but NFPA does so better with more authority:
https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By...oke-alarms
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the NFPA link doesn't really talk about brands though.
I would like hardwired interconnects. I don't trust wireless for that, especially from a company that is as (occasionally) unreliable as Kidde. I think hardwired interconnects are only available if they are ac powered.
I spent a couple of hours looking at features on the Kidde web page. It wasn't easy to tell what I wanted. I guess I can live with the dreaded 9v battery backup if I have to, but I would be pretty unhappy about it.
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(06-14-2018, 11:08 AM)EricU Wrote: the NFPA link doesn't really talk about brands though.
No they don't. What they do say is:
- Choose smoke alarms that have the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
I look for the UL label.
https://www.ul.com/newsroom/pressrelease...-test-lab/
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(06-14-2018, 11:08 AM)EricU Wrote: I guess I can live with the dreaded 9v battery backup if I have to, but I would be pretty unhappy about it.
I got years from a 9V, since what I have is line voltage powered, and the battery is only a backup in case of power outage.
Tom
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(06-14-2018, 12:07 PM)TDKPE Wrote: I got years from a 9V, since what I have is line voltage powered, and the battery is only a backup in case of power outage.
The detector warns you when the battery is low (usually while I am in bed for the night). I don't worry about the batteries. They cost about $2.00 each and last a long time.
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(06-14-2018, 02:33 PM)Cooler Wrote: The detector warns you when the battery is low (usually while I am in bed for the night). I don't worry about the batteries. They cost about $2.00 each and last a long time.
I've tried to convince my wife of this for the past few years. She still insists that I change the batteries every Spring & Fall when the time changes....just because the TV news people have conditioned us to believe this is necessary.
If you are going down a river at 2 mph and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to shingle your roof?
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(06-14-2018, 03:08 PM)Bill Wilson Wrote: I've tried to convince my wife of this for the past few years. She still insists that I change the batteries every Spring & Fall when the time changes....just because the TV news people have conditioned us to believe this is necessary.
DW does the same, but I've re-re-educated her to stop doing that. For the most part, at least. Now it's just, "Do the batteries need to be replaced?", to which I answer, "No." And thus endeth the discussion.
Tom
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find the video of the guy who burned his house down with 9v batteries he took out of his smoke alarms
I did it for you:
https://www.insideedition.com/investigat...-burn-down
