this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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Got some Cavius smoke alarms at the recommendation of @Dave. Havent installed them yet (Will be a friday evening Job :)). They look good.
I considered those, but I've read some bad reviews. Friend of mine had them all through his house and said none of them lasted more than about 2 years. He's technical like me so I take his word on them. But, I've read good things too. May have to try a set for myself. Don't throw your receipts away in a hurry.
I did the house half in the Cavius ones and half in the Orca ones (both from Mitre 10). Must have been about 5 of each. The Orca ones mostly died within a year or two, probably the batteries (which are replaceable but I couldn't find anywhere selling them). One of them was DOA, when I put the battery in it, the alarm went off until I pulled the battery out.
The Cavius ones are still going strong. This was perhaps 3-4 years ago, though some are newer since I replaced most of the Orca ones (actually, I was dumb enough to buy more Orca ones first, because I could just fit them into the existing brackets so I didn't have to do much work, but then when they died again, that's when I replaced them with Cavius).
I did some research on smoke alarms the other day, and my conclusion is that they all have bad reviews to some extent. I guess like any electronic, they have a reasonably high failure rate, so it's probably pretty common for people to have a bad experience (my bad experience with Orca may likewise be a fluke).
Fair points. But as I said, it's probably worth getting some for my own use and having a bash.
My main motivation with this is to do work me assisting in a house fire across the road from me. I never believed how fast a fire develops. Its fucking scary let me tell you. The more warning you can get the better. My house has a smoke alarm in every room, kitchen, lounge, and garage.
But just as important is having MULTIPLE fire extinguishers around the house. I've seen how far they really go in a real fire. You need more than one or two. You don't want to watch a fireman dressed in full gear with breathing apparatus dragging a hose in through your front door.
That whole episode was a serious eye opener for me. Luckily, quick action meant they didn't lose their house!
So, $120 bucks for two or three isn't a factor.
The legal minimum (for rentals) and the fire service recommended number of smoke alarms are vastly different. Like you, every room has a smoke alarm except bathroom/toilet. We have heat ones in the kitchen and garage and regular ones elsewhere.
Thanks for the reminder about fire extinguishers. My plan had always been to buy another every few years so they were different ages, but I'm sitting here with only one in the house because I never got more. I should get on to that.
Nice! Good luck!
My smoke alarms have a nasty habit of going off in the middle of the night. I'm in a humid area, wondering if that is the cause or maybe something to do with the HRV pumping different temperature air over them.
Smoke alarms normally say not to install within X distance (50cm maybe?) of a duct. Not sure if that's because of dust or heat, I know our DVS gets big circles of grime around them from what I assume is grubby ceiling air (even though it has a filter) that needs cleaning every few years. Hard to see if you're not up close, though.
Humidity might be an issue, because I was silly enough to put a smoke alarm where shower steam would reach (our house has a weird layout) and it would set off the smoke alarm. However, I've never heard of just generally humid air being a problem, but that doesn't mean it isn't.