Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our house was built in 2017-18 (we moved in March 2018.). In the past two weeks, three of our First Alert hard wired smoke detectors have developed the three-beep chirp which indicates the unit needs replacement (versus the one beep chirp, which means the backup battery needs to be replaced.). I thought these had a ten year life. This last one’s manufacture date was February 2017, the other two were slightly newer I believe. Is it normal to only get 6-7 years use out of these? Or is there something else going on which would cause these failures?
^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said, do you actually think that bulbs that are rated to 15,000hrs will last that long?
I think it's a valid question. Despite the 'claim', almost no one will leave a light bulb burning continuously for 2 years. Smoke/fire detectors are always on. And some of the hard wired units are spendy.
I can't remember what I paid to replace a house full prior to a sale a few years back, but it was a chunk.
They can last that long, or then can be short lived due to dust, airborne grease, spider webs, etc.
If combined with a co2 detector, their life is considerably shortened.
Is it normal to only get 6-7 years use out of these? Or is there something else going on which would cause these failures?
I had a couple die after only a year or two. I thought the first one was a fluke and just tossed it. When two more went out, I called and got replacements under warranty. Unfortunately, they wouldn't also replace the one I tossed.
It is unusual but not worth the aggravation as other posters have mentioned.
We have First Alert in our current house and they started to act up last year in our 12 year old house. I bought replacements at Lowes and they did fit on the original sub base, so it was as simple as unscrewing the old one from the base and screwing on the new one.
Since I posted I did a little more research and as Pitt Chick says, the smoke/Co2 combos (which we have) have shorter lives than just the straight smoke only alarms. In any event, we are replacing them (at approx $45 a pop via Amazon) with the lithium battery style.
I’m just hoping future failures occur during the day and not at 1:30 a.m.
I got a better price buying a set of six smoke alarms at Home Depot.
The bases didn't match, but replacing them just took a screwdriver, pliers, a stepladder, and about ten minutes each.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
