Kidde 9 Volt Smoke Detector

There's nothing more tragic, than reading the newspaper, and learning about the deaths of a family in a fire. It happens all of the time, and while some blazes are inescapable, the majority of them allow some time to flee to safety. Each time I read these horrible stories, it seems that there were no smoke detectors in the house, or that their batteries had died. I wonder how many of these deaths could have been prevented, and am glad that our local fire department has a program to give homeowners free smoke detectors. Anything to save lives is a good idea, and while none of us want to be in a burning building, it makes sense to have plenty of smoke detectors.

My house has smoke detectors in every room, and I am not ashamed to admit being obsessed about this level of safety. Laugh if you want, but I'm all about keeping my family as safe as possible, even though it is expensive. I have two combination Carbon Monoxide/Smoke detectors, and the rest of them are Kidde 9 Volt Models. This company has a long history in fire protection systems, and although I could have found cheaper smoke detectors, I am happy with these $7 units for the most part. They are excellent in doing their jobs, in fact they might be too good, which is why I switched out my kitchen one for a more advanced one that could differentiate between types of smoke.

The Kidde 9 Volt is just over a pound in weight, which makes them a breeze to install in harnesses on the ceiling of each room. It took me under five minutes for each one, and a simple twist off will allow you to change the batteries. It makes sense to replace the batteries twice a year, and to test them on a weekly basis. This is easy with these small units, as a pressing of the button, will determine that the audible alarm is ready to shriek if there's an actual emergency. There is also a small light on each that flashes to show its working, and if the batteries go low, it will make an annoying chirping to noise to remind you to change them. I've only experienced this once, as the six month timeframe with each 9 volt battery, has been just fine.

The audible alarm isn't the loudest I've ever heard, but its got enough noise to wake up most deep sleepers out there. As long as you have them positioned in each room, or in an alignment close to that, you shouldn't have any problems hearing it. The tones are simply the most annoying noise ever, and remind me of Jim Carrey's part in the movie Dumb and Dumber. The noise could very well save your life, so I'll tolerate it, even though it bothered me enough in the kitchen to get a higher priced model to not constantly go off when burning meals in the oven. This alarm is so sensitive, that it would activate if the popcorn was in the microwave for ten seconds too long!

This is a viable option for those on a budget. Its a bit more expensive than the store brand version, but I trust Kidde's long record of service. Plus, its a lot cheaper than some other smoke detectors, but it does what its supposed to do.You can find these at most hardware stores, and sometimes they are sold in value-packs. This brand is a favorite of many firehouses, and is quite often the ones that are given out to residents by the uniformed guys. That alone tells me I've got a decent system, that God forbid will work if it is needed. You can't put a price on your families safety, and I like knowing that our home is well protected by these Kidde 9 Volt Smoke Detectors.