[Buzz123]

Where is that mediocre person that knows all this stuff? My wife tells me that our smoke alarms are outdated and we can get ones that don't use batteries. Neither one of us belongs on a step ladder 20 feet in the air these days, and if the one in the living room starts chirping at 3:00am neither one of us can do anything about it. We'd have to move out and sell the place, and you know what Las Vegas homes are worth these days. So is there a battery free smoke alarm? I don't see how there could be, and can't find any on line. I did find ones that have a ten year battery good for the life of the alarm, but then it says it still might go off when there is no fire. Do you think I should ask the Las Vegas or Clark County FD?

[LV10101]

There are smoke detectors that are hard wired but most homes have to be pre-wired for this option, even those still have battery backup. A lot of newer homes have pre-wired electrical running to all the smoke detectors. Unless you want to spend a lot of money re-wiring I think the 10 year battery life smoke detectors are your only good option. You could even move the smoke detectors from the high locations they are at now and place them closer to the floor so you can reach them if they go off. Good luck.

[jet757f]

The 10 year battery life smoke detectors sound great but after reading the reviews it seems like the batteries haven't been lasting that long.

[Caltovegas]

A small dog may work too.

[ScoopLV]

Your insurance company effectively enforces fire alarm code. If you don't have them, and your house burns down, they don't pay.

My policy is crystal clear on several points: I don't do electrical work. (Even easy-peasy electrical work.) If I do, and the house burns down, they don't pay. I have to have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. If they house burns down and the inspector doesn't find the remains of a fire extinguisher, they don't pay. And I have to have smoke detectors in all bedrooms and strategically placed around the hallways. Or again they don't pay.

I use rechargeable 9V batteries the smoke detector. At least that way when they start chirping, I can swap out the battery and recharge it. I've been doing this for years now and it works well. If it's a wired detector, you can remove the battery entirely and it will stop chirping. But you're on your own with your insurance company.

Putting a smoke detector on a 20-foot ceiling is more of a code violation than not having one. That's unnecessarily dangerous. If everyone in Las Vegas had such a setup it is very likely that dozens of people would fall off ladders and die each year. Here's your solution: move the smoke detector!

[macgeek]

I have NEST C02/Smoke detectors in the living room (fireplace), Kitchen and Bedroom.
I have a C02 Detector in the garage, A Fire extinguisher in the Kitchen and by the BBQ.

After 7 years your smoke detector will start chirping, not because the battery is low, because its time
to REPLACE the smoke detector. Most people just disconnect the unit instead of replacing it.

This is a No brainer folks.

Jonathan

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Where is that mediocre person that knows all this stuff? My wife tells me that our smoke alarms are outdated and we can get ones that don't use batteries.

I don't know the codes, but I know how to search for them.

http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/d...Amendments.pdf

See section R314

If you have an older home, as I do (built in 1988), the fire code at the time the house was built did not require as many smoke alarms as are required now. Current code requires one in every bedroom.

R314.3.1 Location. Smoke alarms shall be installed in the following locations:
1. In each sleeping room.
2. Outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms.
3. On each additional story of the dwelling, including basements but not including crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics. In dwellings or dwelling units with split levels and without an intervening door between the adjacent levels, a smoke alarm installed on the upper level shall suffice for the adjacent lower level provided that the lower level is less than one full story below the upper level.

My house was built with just two wired smoke alarms, one on each level. Wired smoke alarms still require battery backup, so there really is no such thing as a smoke alarm without a battery. I also have two smoke/thermal alarms connected to my alarm system, so they receive backup power from the alarm system's battery. Everything other smoke alarm in the house is battery powered.

Smoke alarms use either photoelectric or ionization detection, or both (not that common). The alarms I added are either dual-technology, or combo photoelectric/CO detectors. I skimmed an NFPA (National Fire Prevention Association) study on photoelectric vs ionization vs dual-technology detectors, and the conclusion seemed to be that dual-technology had no disadvantages, other than cost, and significant advantages over single-technology detectors. They even outperformed co-located detectors of each type in some cases.

Also note the requirements on CO detection:

R314.3.2 Carbon monoxide alarms. Carbon Monoxide alarms outside of sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms in dwellings units within which fuel-fired appliances are installed and in dwelling units that have attached garages.

This thread looks like it's already got a lot of good advice in it for you. Buying the smoke alarms with the long-life lithium batteries, and just replacing them when the batteries die might be a good solution for you.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Where is that mediocre person that knows all this stuff?

With that attitude, I hope nobody comes to your aid.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by convextech

With that attitude, I hope nobody comes to your aid.

You know he was talking about the poster above you, whose screen name is mediocre, right?

[convextech]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

You know he was talking about the poster above you, whose screen name is mediocre, right?

Oh, I didn't know that. Oops. Sorry.