Smoke alarm replacement
 

I would like to replace all my smoke alarms. Any suggestions on who to contact for a fair deal.

Lowes

I replaced my own. Very simple if you are comfortable on a ladder. I am not sure, but maybe if you purchase the replacements the fire department might come out and do it for free.

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We bought ours at Ace Hardware and the Fire Department replaced them at no charge.

Ace Hardware, it's an easy DIY. Don't forget, if you have gas, one of them has to be a C O detector.

The code requires a carbon monoxide detector even if you don't have gas appliances, assuming that you have an attached garage.

Go to Home Depot and buy the contractor package. 5 alarms in a box. Save some $$. Fire dept. changed them out for us. Wonderful people.

Did this myself, as noted above there is a contractor package, Lowes was 6 of the smoke detectors for the price of 4 individual units. I bought the standard 9 volt battery type, and not the 10 year lithium battery type for almost twice the price. Also as noted above you may have 1 or 2 carbon monoxide detector, to remain legal these must be replaced with the same type units, I bought these individually. All of these plug into the existing house wiring.
If you are nervous about the wiring, there will be a circuit breaker that you can turn off, a small flat blade screw driver will release the plug from the smoke detector, take it to Lowe's or Home depot, or ACE and get the same model, then reverse the process.
As a side note, one of mine was giving a code that indicated the detector had failed (not a low battery), so that was why I replaced all as I did not want to be bothered over the next year or so replacing the rest of them.

I really don't have anything against the fire department, but why are they spending taxpayer money to install smoke detectors? That's not their job. If you can't do it yourself or find a friend to help you, hire an electrician or a handyman. They need the work more than the fire department. My opinion and rant for the day.

The fire department doesn't want people falling off ladders while they are trying to make their homes safe (replacing smoke detectors).

You can can also call the fire department if your loved one falls and you can't get her up.

It's called public service for a reason.


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As long as the service is available to everyone then the taxpayers are benefitting from their tax dollars. It's better than having them just sit at the station waiting for something to do.

I just twisted off, unplugged five of them from off the walls.. Three were bibing at the same time(hard to tell which ones)..This means low back up batteries ...Just replace the batteries, right?

Maybe they can come over and cut my grass. The point is that I am paying them to put out fires, not to install smoke detectors. The "free" service is not really free.

:ohdear: Where do you stand on getting cats out of trees? Inquiring minds want to know. :icon_wink:

Really not that hard if you replace with the same kind. Simply turn smoke detector to left ( If I remember correctly) slip it out of the mounting bracket, unplug. Then, either use the old mounting bracket or loosen the two mount screws, turn the bracket, remove it. Install the new bracket, snug the two screws, pull the plastic tab separating the back up bateries, plug the fire detector harness in, align slots, turn to right to secure the fire detector, push the test button and you’re done. Takes about 5 mins. I used magic mark and marked it so in 6 months I know what direction to turn it and how far to turn for separation. As for the fire department doing it for free, they do it when they are wait mode, and the whole station don’t come out and do it. It’s public service. It also depends on which county you live in to what’s required by the code and whether you’re house is rental or not.