120 volt only smoke and CO alarms

[mbrooke]

Correct but will the warning beep stop

As long as the alarm has 120 volts it will beep even with the battery completely dead.

 

[mbrooke]

At least you aren't completely removing the detectors. It still amazes me how many people have no functioning smoke detectors in their house.

I got three years out of my last set of 9 volt batteries. I replaced them all only to find out it was the CO monitor that was beeping. Hard telling how much longer they may have lasted.

The way smoke detectors are manufactured these days its a given. My neighbor started having units malfunction one after the other despite being only a 5 years old. One was a CO alarm which she called the fire department. She took the bad ones down (First Alert) and when she went to the store the get new ones (FireX, they did not have First Alert) the connectors would not match up and she returned them. On the other hand an older condo I lived in had 30 year old smokes, they ran perfectly fine and ever time some one went to cook something they told you so. :lol: Yes you are supposed to replace them every 10 years, but built in obsolescence is a driver behind people taking them down imo.

 

[gadfly56]

At least you aren't completely removing the detectors. It still amazes me how many people have no functioning smoke detectors in their house.

I got three years out of my last set of 9 volt batteries. I replaced them all only to find out it was the CO monitor that was beeping. Hard telling how much longer they may have lasted.

IIRC, in about one third of fatal fires, the premises had non-working smoke alarms.

 

[steve66]

IIRC, in about one third of fatal fires, the premises had non-working smoke alarms.

I would have guessed it was even higher.

 

[jumper]

Is this mandated everywhere?

Assuming this is a serious question.

That section would apply to anywhere the IRC is adopted by law and no amendment alters it.

Applicable codes would apply according to what laws/codes are adopted in each jurisdiction.

 

[mbrooke]

Assuming this is a serious question.

That section would apply to anywhere the IRC is adopted by law and no amendment alters it.

Applicable codes would apply according to what laws/codes are adopted in each jurisdiction.

So its along the lines of checking local amendments. Straight forward then, thanks

 

[jumper]

So its along the lines of checking local amendments. Straight forward then, thanks

Correct. Note that not all jurisdictions adopt the IRC, other building codes exist. More often then not info is online, free, and accessible these days.

 

[mbrooke]

Correct. Note that not all jurisdictions adopt the IRC, other building codes exist. More often then not info is online, free, and accessible these days.

I will go that route, thanks

 

[peter d]

You have no right to tell me how to live my life




A once in a blue moon DIY thread that might also be encountered on a job does no harm. :thumbsup:

:roll::roll::happyno:

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Smokes in my buildings have no battery backup, but the NAC/power extenders have batteries :happyyes:

 

[iwire]

Smokes in my buildings have no battery backup, but the NAC/power extenders have batteries :happyyes:

You have smoke detectors, not smoke alarms.

 

[electrofelon]

Actually when the power goes out it's more likely for there to be a fire/co poisoning b/c of stuff people do to compensate- lighting candles and lamps, run generator thats faulty/ has poor ventilation etc.

That's a potentially valid point that i would like to see some statistics on. I also think it is worth considering that many tenants and homeowners will take the SD down to stop the annoying low battery beeping instead of or while they procrastinate getting new batteries. I did exactly that recently at a place I was staying in on an out of town job.....

 

[iwire]

That's a potentially valid point that i would like to see some statistics on.

Could be interesting but for me unless shown otherwise I agree with user 100s point

I also think it is worth considering that many tenants and homeowners will take the SD down to stop the annoying low battery beeping instead of or while they procrastinate getting new batteries. I did exactly that recently at a place I was staying in on an out of town job.....

We can't legislate stupidity away. (<JK> )

 

[mbrooke]

Voice alarm

Voice alarm

Ok, this should be another thread but here goes. Does anyone know where voice alarms are required? I hear Massachusetts has a new requirement that if the unit is a combo smoke and co it needs to talk. :blink:

 

[gadfly56]

Ok, this should be another thread but here goes. Does anyone know where voice alarms are required? I hear Massachusetts has a new requirement that if the unit is a combo smoke and co it needs to talk. :blink:

This must be the brain child of some pencil pusher in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts if true. There is nothing in the IRC requiring voice alarms in single occupancy residences. NFPA 72 allows the use of voice messages. It requires that fires be annunciated with a temporal 3 signal and CO with a temporal 4 signal.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

Ok, this should be another thread but here goes. Does anyone know where voice alarms are required? I hear Massachusetts has a new requirement that if the unit is a combo smoke and co it needs to talk. :blink:

I belive this is it on page 4.
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/dfs/osfm/pubed/flyers/consumers-guide-w-sell-1-and-2-fam.pdf

 

[mbrooke]

I belive this is it on page 4.
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/dfs/osfm/pubed/flyers/consumers-guide-w-sell-1-and-2-fam.pdf

Why?

 

[iwire]

Why?

To give you something to rant about authority gone overboard.

 

[gadfly56]

Why?

If I had to guess, and this is only a guess, I'd say someone thought to themselves "Who is going to be able to tell the difference between temporal 3 and temporal 4? Time for the nanny state to step in." What they really should have been thinking was "Who cares what the cadence is, in either case you should get the h**l out of Dodge. No action on our part is required."

For the record, I have the dual units with voice and I'd buy them again but that's my choice as a consumer.

 

[mbrooke]

If I had to guess, and this is only a guess, I'd say someone thought to themselves "Who is going to be able to tell the difference between temporal 3 and temporal 4? Time for the nanny state to step in." What they really should have been thinking was "Who cares what the cadence is, in either case you should get the h**l out of Dodge. No action on our part is required."

For the record, I have the dual units with voice and I'd buy them again but that's my choice as a consumer.

I guess it makes sense that way. But I still see it as part of the mass dumbing down of everything.