Fire alarms
 

Looking for anyone’s experience with Coastal Health and Safety. Can’t find anything on TOTV more recent than 2013 and a prior thread is disabled. They install top of the line smoke detectors. Their rep said the alarms installed by builders are the bare minimum and only work 45% of the time.

Sounds phony to me if Smoke Detectors we’re that bad they would be pulled from the market.
All smoke detectors do not last for ever the newer models last 10 years maybe 11 due to internal radioactive element exhausted. New construction you will have a smoke detector in each bedroom and within so many feet of a bedroom there is a smoke/carbon monoxide detector BY FIRE CODE.

Are they really $250 each? That’s what the thread from 2013 said,

The smoke detectors are installed in almost every new house all over the country (I’ve owned 5 houses in 3 states and they all had the same).

Sounds like there’s a reason no one is talking about them. Seems like a scam.

Sounds like a scam. Light a candle and hold it near your smoke detector. If it goes off, you know that it works.

Smoke alarms go through very specific tests, so I would and will continue to depend on the alarms provided with the house, I have already replaced ALL of these when the first one failed (3 beeps) after about 8 years. I believe these are supposed to use some type of advanced detection system, and there are more installed than the original installation, for example the attic and the garage. No idea how well the ones in the attic will survive in the summer heat, or the battery backup.

Hipe
 

I don't have any experience with the company mentioned. I find it hard to believe that the smoke detectors (mine are First Alert brand) only work 45% of the time. Sounds like scare tactics and sales hipe. Mine go off every time something burns in the kitchen. Also, the ones I have are smoke AND carbon monoxide alarms. I just went on best reviews.com and they have first alert brand as 2 of the top five smoke detectors.

Plus be sure that you can easily get replacement smoke detector. My house is 12 years old and I just had to replace a First Alert smoke detector (would not stop beeping even after battery replacement). I easily found a replacement on Amazon just by entering the model number and it plugged right in - a 5 minute fix.

Smoke Alarms
 

These guys have been around for years as noted. They normally put on a presentation with horror stories of allegedly failed detectors causing deaths.

They do not reveal the cost of placing their alarms in a house as they state a personal inspection of each house is needed to tailor the number of alarms to each house. This is despite the fact they have installed them in almost every model of homes in The Villages.

So the sales person comes to your house, inspects the residence and presents the house specific recommendation to the home owner. The typical cost is $4,000.00 with financing available.

I live in Springdale and I know 3 different friends who bought into this sales pitch in July. The home inspection is nothing more than an in person pressure tactic to get the owner to sign a contract on the spot.

The detectors used by the Villages are up to code. If they are not adequate, the Villages Fire Department personnel wouldn't be going around changing batteries on them or installing replacements.

Save your money!

Smoke Detector Battery Replacement
 

Just as an F.Y.I.
Had to replace battery in a detector that was beeping, we were "Seasonal" so had to have a handyman do it.
He advised that if one battery is needing to be replaced, then all batteries need to be replaced.
The reason he gave, was that all the detectors are inter-connected, and when a new battery is put into one, it has a higher output than the other ones. Thus, that difference
will cause the other ones to begin beeping.
He did then put in all new batteries in all the detectors, problem solved.
Will have new batteries put in again in all detectors, before we leave again.
Also, the Fire Dept. used to do the replacement as a no-charge service, they stopped
because of Covid, anybody know if they have re-started doing battery replacements?

Yes, they've resumed.

Public Safety Smoke Detector Program

Your handyman's explanation is not correct. The smoke detectors are powered by the house electric current. The batteries are only for backup purposes, if there is a power outage. The detector will automatically detect a low or dead battery and the detector will start to beep every 15-30 seconds or so until you replace the battery. Although it may be a good idea to replace all of the batteries at the same time, it is not necessary. You can replace the battery in the detector that is beeping and that will resolve your beeping problem until another battery gets low or is dead.

You also can get the 10 year battery alarm, compatible with The Villages system, at Lowes, for $50. If you can step up a few on a ladder, that is an economical alternative.

good news, many Villagers are neighborly, and will help change alarms.

I agree with replacing the smoke detectors every 10 years. But, why do you need smoke detectors with a permanently installed battery, if the detectors installed by the builder are powered by your house electricity? Why not just replace the alkaline batteries with 10 year lithium batteries? I understand that the code only requires the sealed, permanent type detectors for non-wired detector locations. It seems like an unnecessary expense, and not an upgrade to replace all of the detectors.

Why not just replace the alkaline batteries with 10 year lithium batteries for about 6 dollars each on Amazon?

Isnt the unit sealed so we cannot replace the battery/

There is a small internal battery for internal operations of unit factory installed. Then there is an additional battery which operates unit in event of power failure that powers the audible alarm.
There are always safety commercial tv/radio suggest changing twice yearly at time change