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what invisible thing could set off my smoke detector? (lemm.ee)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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(I have carbon monoxide detectors that are not going off)

I have smoke detectors that are incorporated into my home alarm system. The other day, the one by my front door went off for no apparent reason, twice, and when I changed the batteries, it started alarming again immediately.

there was absolutely no reason for it, there were no open windows or doors nearby, it just went off. so, my alarm company replaced it. installed the new smoke detector yesterday and... it just went off again. completely different smoke detector.

there's absolutely nothing in my house that could produce carbon monoxide, but I have separate CO detectors anyway that aren't going off. there's no smell, there's nothing visible, and these are those ~~electro optical~~ photoelectric style ones.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

I need to replace a set of expired smoke detector at my elderly parents' house. They're too old to have alarms going off in the middle of the night just because the wind blows.

Yet, Amazon only seem to sell ones with photo-electric sensors, and many reviews complain about over-sensitivity with dust, and under-sensitivity when the room is clearly full of smoke.

Additionally, the ones with sealed 10 year batteries - many reviews report a battery life of 2 years or so in practice, with increased false positives as battery life runs down. So now, they have to replace whole units rather than just batteries.

What happened to good old ionizing smoke detectors with 9v batteries that needed replacing every 2 years or so?!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Have you tried driving to the store?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

so the other brand I have in my house, I've been very happy with. First Alert combination smoke and carbon monoxide. The only improvement they've made is that it runs on AA instead of 9V (I'm pretty sure my smoke detectors were the only reason I was keeping 9 volt around the house anymore), and you can slide the battery tray out without removing the detector so you can disable the alarm and replace the batteries without even having to take it down

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Spend a bit more on UL approved brands, those tend to be more resilient to dust.

Photoelectric type is better for home use as your typical fires are smouldering, which photoelectrics are better at catching.

Here's a deep dive if you're interested https://youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg