First Alert SA320CN Dual Sensor Battery-Powered Smoke and Fire Alarm

Kind of hard to review something that hasnt saved your life yet...It feels like its made of quality materials especially compared to the 16 year old smoke alarm it will be replacing/working along side.I like the drawer pull out for battery replacement. But as I have arthritis in my hands I found it a little bit hard to get the drawer out and the batteries out. Went in easy enough. That being said it was a LOT easier putting in the two AA batteries than finagling the old alarm and its 9v battery compartment.Comes with everything you need to mount except the screw driver and drill if you like to pre-drill.I would purchase again. Test seemed to work. But only time will tell, as with any sensor/alarm when there is something for it to sense and go off about. I believe it was rated well in consumer reports but do not quote me. Always check for yourself as this varies by year.I got this one because my old one is a smoke alarm only and I wanted to have a dual sensor smoke detector fire alarm. no, sensing smoke is not the same thing as sensing a sudden flame up. Smoke is smoldering and a sudden flame up doesnt necessarily have smoke to set the alarm off. Plus learning my old alarm is 16 years old made me feel a little iffy. Apparently some smoke alarms are guaranteed for 25 years. Not sure about the new one. Newer ones seem to be good for 10 years rather than 25. But I feel safer knowing both the old and the new are on board.Maybe more than you wanted to know but I thought if you are like me and you did not know that there are two types of alarms regarding possible fire you might appreciate the TMI.Cheers!

Works great but most importantly I don't have to buy 9 volt batteries anymore.

There are some locations where you would want to know very quickly if there is a fire or even a hint of a fire brewing. The bedroom you sleep in is one such place. If you don't wake up immediately when there's a fire there, things are not going to turn out well. Because this First Alert SA320CN alarm detects both smoldering and flaming fires, you stand a good chance of getting everyone out of your house and calling the fire department.However you should not rely soley upon this alarm. You should have other alarms in several locations that are interconnected---when one sounds off, they all sound off. I keep a fire extinguisher near my bed----not so much to fight a fire elsewhere in the house, but rather to fight my way out of the house if necessary.The AA batteries on this alarm pull out of the unit at an angle; I marked the case with an arrow in order to help me remember this. I have been using Panasonic BK-3MCCA12BA eneloop AA 2100 Cycle Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (Pack 12) in this alarm and all my other alarms. I shopped very carefully to find alarms that use AA and AAA batteries; I'm not a big fan of 9V batteries and I believe they are in the process of being phased out.This First Alert alarm comes with a pair of alkaline AA batteries, but runs perfectly well on precharged rechargeable AA NiMH batteries and never gives a low-battery-warning beep signal during the course of a year. I like to know that I can service all of my alarms each fall before the onset of the heating season---without running to the store and buying more batteries. If you decide to go with rechargeable batteries, be SURE and get the "precharged" type of NIMH batteries. These are also known as "slow discharge."This past year I also bought a Carbon Monoxide Alarm and two SABRE Wireless Water Leak Flood Alarm Sensor with 110 dB Siren - DIY EASY Installation for my basement and first floor laundry.

Packaging:The three alarms arrived in individual bulk brown box packaging; nothing wrong with that. In the box was the alarm, 2 AA alkaline batteries, mounting screws, and instructions. I am a guy so who needs instructions. The alarm itself was wrapped very well in bubble-wrap. I am very satisfied with the packaging.Installation:Installation was a breeze. You first install the two batteries according to the diagram on the alarm. The new alarms were replacing old First Alert fire alarms that we have had for over 20 years. I now know you should replace alarms every 10 years. I removed the old alarms by loosening the mounting screws a couple turns, turning the old alarm to align the mounting holes and that was that. The new alarm has a base and alarm. The new base fit perfectly over the existing screws from the old alarm. Tighten the screws and the hard part is done. Then place the alarm over the mounting plate and give a 1/3 turn and you are done.Operation:After they were mounted I pushed the test button and each unit gave two sets of 3 beeps. Happy alarms.Observations:I have heard that the alkaline batteries provided last between one and two years. When they do wear out I will be trying Lithium batteries to see if they last longer. I tried Lithium 9V batteries in the old alarms and two out of four had corrosion on the positive terminal after one year. (P.S. the fourth new alarm was a CO2 + Fire alarm). The only time our fire alarms have ever gone off is when my bride has used them as a dinner bell. Alarm goes off = Dinner is done. PBJ for dinner tonight.

This is my second purchase of a First Alert Dual Sensor Smoke and Fire Alarm. I turned to this product after I found that the Kidde smoke detectors installed as part of the real estate transaction on the purchase of my new home were complete duds.I want to take this opportunity to point out that in some states it's no longer possible to buy a conventional battery-operated smoke alarm. I am glad Amazon did not prohibit the shipping to California, where I live, because I am absolutely convinced that our clueless legislators have created a public safety hazard by forcing the sale of smoke detectors to rely on 10-year (non-replaceable) batteries. Because I had "new" smoke detectors installed in my home and because the "Push to Test" feature worked, I could have been clueless for as long as 10 years that they were in fact inoperable units. The only reason I learned otherwise is because I nearly burned down my house using a vintage toaster (my bad) the second week after I moved in. I thought it was a fluke that neither of the Kidde smoke alarms went off since they were located in bedrooms (not the kitchen). But then I had a near miss a few weeks later when the damper (newly installed!) stuck closed on first use of my fireplace. In that instance, the entire house filled up with smoke to the point where I had to open all the windows and doors in the dead of winter and evacuate myself (asthma) and my pets to let the smoke clear. Again, the "new" Kidde smoke detectors with 10-year batteries failed to emit a single chirp. Further testing would reveal that even burning a paper towel with a lighter an inch away would not provoke the Kidde smoke detectors to sound an alarm.The problem with forcing consumers to rely on 10-year safety devices that are built to cheap Chinese standards is that they can be defective for that long and consumers may not be the wiser because the longer they stay in place and the less attention they require — i.e. to change out batteries on daylight savings as is the usual practice with a conventional smoke detector — the more likely it is that consumers will miss the fact that A) their device is defective or B) 10 years has lapsed and the battery is dead.I hope other States do not follow California's lead and that this dual-sensor smoke detector is not discontinued. Thanks to the wake-up call with the Kidde detectors — which relied on a single-sensor design — I performed the same paper-towel test with these First Alert smoke detectors and they passed. At the same time, these are not so sensitive that they produce false alarms.The reason I turned to First Alert was because I contacted Kidde in the hope that they would consider recalling the smoke alarms that did not work in my home. After all, what are the odds that not one but two would be defective? They agreed only to replace my smoke detectors — but they took TWO MONTHS to ship me the replacements, which was an unacceptable length of time to go without a working smoke detector in my home!If anything, my advice to politicians who are considering making laws about safety products of this type is that they mandate a dual-sensor design — but continue to give consumers the choice as to whether or not they prefer to change batteries annually or take their chances with the 10-year variety.Thank you, First Alert.