[HH] Smoke detectors self-destruct

[Ethan Schwartz]

> On Apr 12, 2017, at 11:53 AM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) <greg at freephile.com> wrote:
> 
> I bought a house 6 years ago, and I was perplexed this week as ALL the First Alert combo smoke + CO detectors started chirping and went bad.
> 
> The First Alert smoke detectors have and "End of Life" feature that: [1]

I don't think this is sinister or planned obsolescence--

All CO sensor types have finite lifespans, after that point they may not alert to dangerous levels of CO.  

This end of life feature is to prevent people from installing them and never replacing them as long as they don't chirp.

A well rated combination detector costs between $25-50.  Even if you have a dozen in your home that's $300-600 every 5-6 years.  As far as home maintenance costs and effort goes this is not very high, you should probably be replacing or servicing fire extinguishers around the same timeframe too.

If you have gas appliances in your basement I'd have an explosive gas alarm down there too.