Smoke alarms - Page 2

aubnwa01 · ‎03-09-2010

I'm really lucky that my local fire dept. will come out to change the batteries in your smoke alarms if you call their non-emergency number. I have vaulted ceilings & I can reach half of my hard-wired smoke alarms, but being short, I can't reach the other ones even standing on the very tippy top of a 6' ladder, which is not safe at all.

I had one smoke alarm ( & of course, it was the very highest one!) that would go off if my furnace came on so I seldom used my furnace in the winter & got up on the ladder & closed the vent that was aimed at that alarm. That one alarm would trip all of the other ones in the house to go off, so it got a bit loud!

Well, finally that one alarm went totally bad & all 6 smoke alarms were blaring & would not shut off (I think this is called latching). It went on & on for 30 minutes, so I ended up calling 911 from my driveway (couldn't hear a thing inside & my poor cat was totally freaked out & hiding under a bed)

The firemen came & checked everything & found no fire or smoke & determined that this one alarm was bad & fortunately I had a spare smoke alarm & they swapped the bad one out & the racket stopped.

The battalion chief who was with the firemen, asked how old my smoke alarms were & I said they had been installed when the house was built, so were about 11 years old at that time. He told me smoke alarms are only good for 10 years & suggested I get them all replaced with new ones & to just call them & when I got the new ones, they'd come back & install them for me.

I went on Amazon & ordered a contractor pack of 6 smoke alarms of the same brand & type as mine so the brackets would work & called the FD back when they came & they came out & put them up for me.

That was 3 years ago & since I got rid of the one "problem child" alarm, I can use my furnace if I want without setting off the smoke alarms! I call & the FD replaces all of the batteries once a year for me when Costco has a good price on 9V batteries. I also change the battery in my CO2 detector at the same time.

VaBelle35 · ‎03-10-2010

I replaced mine after 25 years. They still worked (believe me, they still worked).

Mine are also wired as I live in a Townhouse and I would not want to be without them wired. There's no way out of the top floor except for the window, so I'd like to know early if there's a fire in the basement, so I can get out the front door.

I bought smoke/carbon combined this time and they have a sensor that lets you know when it's time to replace them as the carbon ones only last 2-3 years, they have a very short lifespan.

Newer smoke alarms are more advanced and can tell the different between smoky food and smoke from a fire. My old ones used to go off just making toast ;o) It took a year for the new ones to go off and I was actually concerned he didn't install them correctly. I had to torch a potato in the microwave in order to get those things to go off (had to replace the microwave, too!).

===================================
QVC Shopper - 1993

# IAMTEAMWEN

Group 5 minus 1 · ‎03-11-2010

Still waiting for an answer.

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

@Group 5 minus 1 wrote:
Still waiting for an answer.

@Group 5 minus 1 The fire department will come and change the batteries for you if you call them. I'll bet they would put them up higher for you too.

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@NickNack wrote:
@Group 5 minus 1 wrote:
Still waiting for an answer.

@Group 5 minus 1 The fire department will come and change the batteries for you if you call them. I'll bet they would put them up higher for you too.

I live in an over 55 community and the fire dept is virtually within walking distance and every year the HOA has a sign up sheet in the clubhouse and fireman come here and changes our batteries over a 3 day period. They come with one fire truck and one rescue squad in case they have to respond to any calls.

We all have single family homes with 12 ft ceilings - not a good idea for any of us to be climbing ladders. They'll do it as a public service but everyone writes a check to the Volunteer FD for $25 or $30 - win win for everyone bc doing so for us is a major fundraiser for them. If they come - if you can afford to do so, give a donation! Here they use the funds to buy smoke detectors for homes in poorer areas