Re: Smoke Detector hardwired to electricity!!

okBlonde · ‎09-23-2013

The older hardwired smoke alarms DID NOT have a battery backup. They normally last 10 years, there is a planned obsolescence to them for a reason. Please learn to do this for yourself instead of relying on a man. I bought a new one and hardwired it myself. There's no need to hire an electrician for this. Just turn off the circuit breaker and do it.

barrel racer · ‎03-13-2010

I have a hard wired unit with my alarm system Please get someone who knows what they are doing before messing with electricity & circuit breakers yourself.

okiebug · ‎04-05-2010

On 3/28/2014 Mmsfoxxie said: Well, except for the tv, it is sooooo nice and quiet! I examined the unit, looking for a model # and saw the test button. For the heck of it, I push it. I got a series of loud beeps...scared me. I thought I had made it worse. Then.....nothing. It's been an hour and it hasn't started up again. I thought hubby had tried that button. As usual, I had to go over what he did, lol. I love him dearly but handy around the house, he is not. Still no phone line but I can live with just my cell phone for now. Thanks everybody for your input. I learned a lot about something I'd never heard of....hard wired smoke detectors.

I didn't catch whether your husband just took it off the wall and left it wired or if he disconnected it from the electricity. If he disconnected it and it's still chirping, there's a battery in there - it's getting the power to chirp from it.

Ibby114 · ‎03-10-2010

On 4/1/2014 PinkSugar said:
I have a hard wired unit with my alarm system Please get someone who knows what they are doing before messing with electricity & circuit breakers yourself.

I had an electrician come to my house for a list of items to handle- updating my smoke alarms turned out to be a very small expense considering the overall cost my 'to do' list!

okBlonde · ‎09-23-2013

On 4/1/2014 PinkSugar said:
I have a hard wired unit with my alarm system Please get someone who knows what they are doing before messing with electricity & circuit breakers yourself.

Oh, geez......I would never attempt to install something like a new electrical outlet, but a smoke alarm replacement is easy and you don't need to be an electrician to do it.

I can't believe all the helpless women in this world.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

On 4/3/2014 Indy-Blonde2 said:
On 4/1/2014 PinkSugar said:
I have a hard wired unit with my alarm system Please get someone who knows what they are doing before messing with electricity & circuit breakers yourself.

Oh, geez......I would never attempt to install something like a new electrical outlet, but a smoke alarm replacement is easy and you don't need to be an electrician to do it.

I can't believe all the helpless women in this world.

It's easy to install a new electrical outlet. There are instructions and videos that show each step. You must turn off the power/breaker first. If your circuit breaker box isn't marked, get someone to help you label each one.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Our condo is 8 years old and both the smoke detector and the Co2 detector are hard wired. And there is NO backup battery. We thought that we would not have to deal with that beep beep beep when the battery was running low but a few months ago the smoke detector did start beeping. My husband is pretty handy but he's not foolish, he wasn't about to take the thing down and start tampering with it. The condo office sent an electrician in the next day (it beeped all night!) when we were both at work, so hubby didn't have any opportunity to observe or ask questions. Just to see if it was something he could have done hisself.

okBlonde · ‎09-23-2013

On 4/3/2014 glb613 said:
On 4/3/2014 Indy-Blonde2 said:
On 4/1/2014 PinkSugar said:
I have a hard wired unit with my alarm system Please get someone who knows what they are doing before messing with electricity & circuit breakers yourself.

Oh, geez......I would never attempt to install something like a new electrical outlet, but a smoke alarm replacement is easy and you don't need to be an electrician to do it.

I can't believe all the helpless women in this world.

It's easy to install a new electrical outlet. There are instructions and videos that show each step. You must turn off the power/breaker first. If your circuit breaker box isn't marked, get someone to help you label each one.

I'm not talking about replacing one. I've done that. I'm talking about putting an entire new one in, running wiring, etc. I could probably do it, but it's too much work.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

Next time make it clear what you're talking about.

this is my nic · ‎03-30-2010

I think most new construction has the smoke detectors wired into the electrical system. The only thing we've found that works is making sure you've got the detector that's beeping and just replace the batteries. That's it. Often the detectors are close together and it's hard to decide which one is making the noise.