Which brand of smoke/CO detector?

[Sarge]

Time for a more light hearted subject.

I need new smoke detectors for the entire house. I also need three CO detectors as well, so those will probably be combo units? The last batch I bought were first alert brand and they go off constantly from just the heat of the kitchen stove down the hallway. That's right, we literally can't cook at all with this thing hooked up! And the upstairs ones go off if we open the windows and let a cool breeze in, especially if it's windy. No they are not dirty. They have done this since day one! But I must admit the CO side of them works pretty good. The one in the basement kept going off the other night and the FD came out and found my battery backup on my sump pump had boiled over. It was detecting the gases from it.

So, have first alert gotten better in the last 10 years? Or are Kidde units better.

What do you all use and why!!!

Thanks all,

Kevin

[Max It]

HI Yer, they all wear out.

what scared me is the following:

front facing bedroom smoke alarm went off

neighbor heard it

no one home

called FD

other neighbor had our key

let FD in just in the nick of time

before they broke my new double pane window

just to see a lousy smokey

and what did they do?

they reset it.

later that day I returned and bought all new ones.

the last thing I want is FD in my garage

counting the weight of my smokeless (20# max).

or some other dumb thing.

which alarms, ??? don't know. whatever Costco has.

[WidowsSon683]

I have just your basic first alerts throughout my house. They do a good job for what they are. The one in the kitchen goes off when I cook. Of course it could just be my cooking. I know there are detectors out there that can tell the difference between smoke from cooking versus an actual fire as well as detect CO. Some kind of analyzer in them which makes them expensive as hell. Ill ask my safety guy at work what brand it is when I talk to him next. He should know since he's the one who told me about them.

[bountyhunter]

Yeah, I wouldn't know when the chicken was cooked without the smoke alarm going off.

[mrpredictable]

Both brands make rate of rise (heat) detectors that are recommended for use in kitchens. A photoelectric may also be less prone to false alarms in the kitchen due to the need for visible smoke, however, don't put one near a bathroom.

I think combo CO and smoke alarms are the bomb-digity but would advise to get a stand alone CO detector with a read out, and find out what those numbers mean.

If you have young children in the house the variety that speaks while alarming has been found to be significantly more effective.

Both brands are equal in my books.

Hope this helps

[Sarge]

Both brands make rate of rise (heat) detectors that are recommended for use in kitchens. A photoelectric may also be less prone to false alarms in the kitchen due to the need for visible smoke, however, don't put one near a bathroom.

If you have young children in the house the variety that speaks while alarming has been found to be significantly more effective.

No kids, just two semi geezers.

Got another recommendation for photoelectric elsewhere. I will have to check into those.

The heat detector sounds like what I need. The one near the kitchen goes off as soon as I start cooking. So it's not smoke setting it off.

[rottenit]

Go photoelectric on the smoke. Get separate smoke and Co units. Remember that heat detectors are not life safety devices by the time they react you all ready have an established fire. I would go with an interconnected system. Check out alarmgrid.com. I'm a customer no other affiliation. I also owned/worked for alarm companies.

Edited August 1, 2014 by rottenit

[alma]

Consider Nest.

[Metallurgist]

My wife's cooking