Learning me hard-wired smoke detectors

Our house is nearing 20 years old. When it was built hard-wired smoke detectors were installed in almost every room. In the past few weeks almost all of them have started to fail. I want to replace all 8. What do I need to know? Any Brands better than any others? Is there a certain kind of that I should get regardless of price or are the $12 kiddie ones good enough?

I don't know, but they seem overprotective to me. 2 degree temp change=BEEP. Boil water=BEEP.

I like battery powered. And I'll stand by this statement until I die in a house fire.

Edit: Sorry, no help. 

No idea but my 27 year old house has 2. Now I have to worry about them failing.

Thanks!

All I know is I was required by code to install hard-wired detectors when I renovated my ex's house.  Damn that was a PITA.  Plus, they need a 3-wire connection so if any one is activated, they all go off.  From a dedicated circuit breaker. Such fun. 

Thanks for that painful memory... 

Read the label carefully. 

You want AC hard wired interconnected. I recommend with battery backup. 

There are a lot of options. You don’t need wireless, you don’t need battery powered. 

You will need all from the same manufacturer. Hopefully identical. 

Basic units will work fine (as long as they are hard wired interconnected). Kidde, FireEx are both acceptable. 

In reply to SVreX :

Kidde acquired Firex in 2009. 

My hardwired detectors were installed in 2001.  Reckon I ought to consider replacing them?

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Over time film forms on the detectors making them less and less responsive.  Apparently there are too many variables to say exactly when they will fail. But at 20 years I think you've done well and the cost is rather trivial for the protection they afford.  

To be honest, I haven't noticed much difference between brands.  Just go ahead and replace them all at the same time.  If you replace them with the same type you already have it should be easier since you shouldn't have to replace the pigtails and mounting plates.

I changed all three of mine.  It's worth the money - 8 is a lot!

Unfortunately, mine are Firex model ADC or something and there is no replacement that will fit the wiring harness or the mounting plate, so that sucks.  A quick walk through the house with my eyes on the ceiling seems to indicate I have six of them.

We just did ours 6 months ago. House was built in 2004, and we found the exact same ones at Home depot. That made it even easier as I just pulled the old one out, unplug it, plug the new one in and install a battery. 

Apparently many of these are only designed to last 10 years. We got 14 so YMMV

In reply to bobzilla :

Yeah, I mean, mine are going on 20, but who knows if it would actually work when your life depended on it?  Shopping.

I would like to thank you all. 

I had ASSUMED that the mounts and wiring would be standardized. Guess not!

Will replace with same if available.

And add a carbon monoxide detector or two fir goid measure. 

And probably a couple of new fire extinguishers for goid measure. If im in this far....

frenchyd said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Over time film forms on the detectors making them less and less responsive.  Apparently there are too many variables to say exactly when they will fail. But at 20 years I think you've done well and the cost is rather trivial for the protection they afford.  

I actually think it's opposite.

Smoke alarms work by having a known radioactive source and a gieger counter essentially. When smoke goes into the unit, it blocks the radioactive emissions. No reading on the gieger means the alarm sounds.

As the radioactive material ages there is less and less radioactivity emitted from the source. So it takes less smoke or steam or whatever to block the emission and set the alarm off.

So they get sensitive over time because they literally run out of radioactive material.

I think the 10 years comes from the amount of time you should have before they become super sensitive. 

And it comes from lawyers. And marketing. And Jake from State farm.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

I would like to thank you all. 

I had ASSUMED that the mounts and wiring would be standardized. Guess not!

Will replace with same if available.

And add a carbon monoxide detector or two fir goid measure. 

And probably a couple of new fire extinguishers for goid measure. If im in this far....

The mounts and wiring are not a big deal. They come in the box with the unit.  It's 2 screws and a couple of wire nuts.

Robbie said:

frenchyd said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Over time film forms on the detectors making them less and less responsive.  Apparently there are too many variables to say exactly when they will fail. But at 20 years I think you've done well and the cost is rather trivial for the protection they afford.  

I actually think it's opposite.

Smoke alarms work by having a known radioactive source and a gieger counter essentially. When smoke goes into the unit, it blocks the radioactive emissions. No reading on the gieger means the alarm sounds.

As the radioactive material ages there is less and less radioactivity emitted from the source. So it takes less smoke or steam or whatever to block the emission and set the alarm off.

So they get sensitive over time because they literally run out of radioactive material.

Depends on the type of smoke detector, but yes this was the case with ours. They lasted 14 years before running out of radioactive juice. I wonder if that is why my pee glows?

SVreX said:

Dusterbd13-michael said:

I would like to thank you all. 

I had ASSUMED that the mounts and wiring would be standardized. Guess not!

Will replace with same if available.

And add a carbon monoxide detector or two fir goid measure. 

And probably a couple of new fire extinguishers for goid measure. If im in this far....

The mounts and wiring are not a big deal. They come in the box with the unit.  It's 2 screws and a couple of wire nuts.

this, it's stupid easy to change to a different brand/type. We were just lucky they had ours in stock in 4-packs. 

Ok. So no need to rewire the house?

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Absolutely none. 

AC interconnected smoke detectors have always used a 3 conductor wire. Your wiring is fine.