Tall ceiling issue

[Dallas Kitty]

Originally Posted by JoeBI

Can someone reccommend a safe/easy way to change the batteries of two smoke detectors, mounted on the ceiling in my IRB home? The task is simple, but reaching the devices is not because they are 20-25 feet high.
I've tried contacting a couple handy people with no taker so far. I am thinking of renting/purchasing some sort of scarfolding to get this done.

My Texas house had tall ceilings with hot wired smoke detectors in ceiling. One in the bedroom began to beep. I was able to reach it by standing on the very top step of the ladder and so I did. Not a smart thing to do since I could touch the wall for balance only with fingertips. Since it was hot wired, I turned off the power while changing the battery. In just a few minutes, it started beeping again. I found out that the fire dept wants to know about things like that so I called. I was somewhat embarrassed to see the big fire truck arrive and three big fire fighters come in to check on the beeping smoke alarm. As one man climbed the ladder, I said to wait while I shut off the power and ran to garage. Just before I flipped the switch, I heard, "Ow! Ow! Jeez!" and the other two guys laughing. I don't know if he really got a zap or if they were just having some fun. Anyway, they put a different new battery in and beeping stopped. They decided it must have been my battery so they left. In about fifteen minutes, it started beeping again. So I left the power off on that one and forgot about it. There was another one just outside the bedroom door (in the ceiling) in a hallway leading to garage so I was not worried about it.

Now I know that I don't ever again want a house with those things in a tall ceiling. Yours is a big issue and I'm sure the fire dept. will come out to take care of it. Good luck!

[JoeBI]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

I think placement is determined more by house design and where the smoke will go vs whats easy to change batteries in..

I believe you're correct. Smoke goes to the highest point on the ceiling first.

[JoeBI]

Originally Posted by Dallas Kitty

My Texas house had tall ceilings with hot wired smoke detectors in ceiling. One in the bedroom began to beep. I was able to reach it by standing on the very top step of the ladder and so I did. Not a smart thing to do since I could touch the wall for balance only with fingertips. Since it was hot wired, I turned off the power while changing the battery. In just a few minutes, it started beeping again. I found out that the fire dept wants to know about things like that so I called. I was somewhat embarrassed to see the big fire truck arrive and three big fire fighters come in to check on the beeping smoke alarm. As one man climbed the ladder, I said to wait while I shut off the power and ran to garage. Just before I flipped the switch, I heard, "Ow! Ow! Jeez!" and the other two guys laughing. I don't know if he really got a zap or if they were just having some fun. Anyway, they put a different new battery in and beeping stopped. They decided it must have been my battery so they left. In about fifteen minutes, it started beeping again. So I left the power off on that one and forgot about it. There was another one just outside the bedroom door (in the ceiling) in a hallway leading to garage so I was not worried about it.

Now I know that I don't ever again want a house with those things in a tall ceiling. Yours is a big issue and I'm sure the fire dept. will come out to take care of it. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Dallas Kitty. I think that's what I'll do, and I hope these won't start beeping again for a few more years. I wonder if these things had a limited life span like CO detectors.

[Tampa No Look]

I think people in here who are suggesting using a ladder for something 25ft in the air are underestimating how terribly high 25 feet is.

going up 25 feet on a ladder is not (this coming from an avid DIYer) a DIY job. Please believe me on that.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

Yeah, that will be a lot of fun to ignore when they start beeping every minute.

Is it possible that they don't have batteries? I have a cathedral ceiling on one floor and the alarms are wired in.

they do have a back up battery which will beep, however I have too many of these detectors
which are near each other. One solution I found was to take off the cover and remove the battery
and not put the cover back. It is way to hard to climb that high so it works for me.
the ones that are lower i do change the battery.