Kidde Intelligent Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector, Battery Powered, Combination Smoke & CO Alarm with Voice Alert

Needed to replace the 20+ year old standard First Alert SA67B smoke alarm in my room and wanted something with voice and combo detection as we have a propane fireplace. After struggling to find a battery powered combo unit with voice from Kidde, I finally found this. For $20, this is a great smoke/CO alarm to have in your home. Pros: -Easy to install, comes with the hardware and two new batteries to start out with -Takes 2 AA batteries unlike the more expensive 9 volt, and is easier to remove and replace unlike some of the 9V units;even easier with the front loading battery compartment -Has hush feature, you push the multi-function test/hush button in the middle of the alarm if you set it off accidentally, and the large button makes it easy to to test and silence it. Speaking of the test portion, you just push it instead of having to hold it down unlike most which is good if it is high on a ceiling or wall, so you can easily tap it with a broomstick or something else. Same goes for the hush feature. -Has voice function, which behaves in the following ways: If detecting smoke, unit will emit a loud three long beeps and pause, during which it will say in a fairly hearable female voice "Fire!", then beep another three times, pause with no voice, then repeat. If detecting CO, unit will emit four loud short beeps and pause, saying "Warning, Carbon Monoxide!", beep another four short beeps, pause with no voice, then repeat. If detecting a low or loose battery condition, unit will emit a loud, short "chirp" once a minute, following with "Low Battery!". The voice will only repeat every 15 minutes I believe, so it won't annoy you too much more than a standard unit would. It also features a memory function for detecting previous CO, which means when you come back from vacation or something you can push the button and it will say something like "Carbon Monoxide Previously Detected!". Pushing it again will test the unit, which should be done weekly per the unit itself, but at least monthly at the minimum. Also this alarm features a End Of Life warning chirp, which will behave differently (two chirps instead of one I believe, with no voice prompt). This can be silenced for 3 days up to a month to give you a grace period to but another. So far, I highly recommend this alarm and other Kidde products!

Wired smoke and CO detectors are standard in new construction these days, but for an older house, the battery-powered detectors are still very economical, and they have improved a lot over the years. I just replaced all three of ours with these Kidde detectors, after having a good experience with wired Kidde detectors elsewhere. These have some real advantages. They work even if the house's power goes off. They announce what set off the alarm and even when the batteries are low. Apparently, one thing to know is that you should only use alkaline batteries in these, as the low-battery warning is triggered as the batteries power slowly diminishes over time, so the warning will continue for longer than it would with lithium-ion batteries, which have a very steep decline in power over a short period of time, maybe too short for you to be home to hear the low-battery warning. At any rate, installation was easy, the detectors mounted to the screws that were used with the old smoke detectors, even though they were a different brand. Contrary to what other reviewers mentioned, I had no trouble identifying the positive and negative direction for the two supplied AA batteries (nice not to have to use those expensive 9-volt batteries that other detectors use). You just determine the direction of the batteries (positive and negative symbols are designated in the battery troughs and are visible in good light), press the red plastic no-battery "fingers" down (they both fold in the same direction, even though the batteries point in opposite directions), place the extraction tape in the in the trough, and add one battery, then do the other the same way in the opposite direction. As soon as the second battery is in, you get a beep and a voice command to press the test button. Then the detector goes through its warnings, and ends with a final beep and blink of a green light, indicating that everything is set. I’m not sure why others had trouble getting the batteries in. It just takes a moment of study and a little practice. By the third detector, it was a piece of cake!

I bought 4 of these to a direct replacement to what I alread had. Doing great so far.

Included with the detector are the instructions, mounting hardware and 2 AA batteries. I have used various brands of detectors over the years, but I have always gone back to Kidde brand detectors as they seem to be the most reliable, long lasting better detectors out there. That is not to say that Kidde is perfect as I have had Kidde detectors that were subject to recall. I will say Kidde replaced them with no issues though. Another reason I like Kidde detectors it that they have a 10-year warranty and will replace them if they fail before then. I personally prefer the detectors that you can replace the batteries. I have owned the ones that have permanent batteries, but I have never had them last the 10 years they are supposed to do so. This one will beep twice every 30 seconds when it is time to replace it. Install is pretty simple with the mounting plate and screws. Normally these detectors use 9-volt batteries, but this particular model uses the double A’s that are included. Battery install is easy with the sliding panel. I am installing this in a basement bedroom as a supplement to the hardwired one installed in the basement. Install should be less than 5 to 10 minutes Audible alarm is loud enough and typical of most detectors and has an alarm indicator light (red and green). I really like the audible voice alerts. Its sensitivity is also good as well and typical of most quality known brand detectors. Price at 20 bucks is fairly reasonable for a detector. 4 stars