General Question

srmorgan's avatar

How long do smoke detectors last?

Asked by srmorgan (6773points) April 2nd, 2013
3 responses
“Great Question” (0points)

We have been in this house for 19 years and some of the smoke detectors have never been touched.
These are wired into a socket in the ceiling, they are not battery-operated. They might not meet code anymore, now that I think of it.

Do the filters need to be changed? Can we even find replacement smoke detectors that will plug into the ceiling?
Thanks

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Answers

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

If I had a question about them I would replace them. You can’t put a price on your families safety. Battery ones go anywhere.

Adirondackwannabe (36713points)“Great Answer” (2points)
dabbler's avatar

At that age they are not likely to be carbon-monoxide detectors also, which is likely today.
A lot of smoke detectors can last that long if they are clean between the ambient air intake and the detector.
Most carbon-monoxide detectors have a tiny trace of mildly radioactive material that will be sub-performing in probably less than five years.

Maybe you can just put battery-op detectors where you currently have the plug-ins?

dabbler (18896points)“Great Answer” (0points)
LuckyGuy's avatar

It depends upon the technology used. If they work optically they can last “forever”.
The ionizing /radioactive types last about 5 years.
Test them. Light a piece of paper, blow it out and let the smoke hit the detector. They should go off.

Dectectors are so cheap now you can replace them with a combined CO and smoke unit for $15–25. Have at least one from this century in the house.

LuckyGuy (43694points)“Great Answer” (3points)

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