Smoke alarms are the one thing in a house that everyone agrees matters and almost nobody maintains. They chirp, the battery gets pulled, and the house goes on without them. They also expire, which surprises people: the sensor inside degrades, and a ten-year-old alarm with a fresh battery is not a working alarm. This post covers where they go, when they get replaced, and what a swap involves when they are hardwired.
Where alarms belong
- Smoke alarms: inside every bedroom, outside each sleeping area in the hall, and on every level of the house including the basement. On the ceiling or high on a wall, away from the corner where air is dead, and not right next to a bathroom door where steam sets it off or a kitchen where cooking does.
- Carbon monoxide alarms: on every level and outside sleeping areas, in any house with gas appliances, a fireplace, or an attached garage. CO mixes with air rather than rising, so wall height or ceiling both work; follow the unit's instructions.
- Combination units cover both in one device and are common now in hallways.
- Kitchen: a photoelectric alarm or a heat alarm nearby rather than an ionisation alarm, which is the type that goes off when toast is made and then gets disabled.
Replacement dates
Every smoke alarm has a manufacture date printed on the back. Replace smoke alarms ten years from that date. CO alarms are typically five to seven years, and the unit will usually tell you with an end-of-life chirp that a new battery does not fix. If the alarm is yellowed, has no date, or you cannot remember installing it, it is due.
Battery vs hardwired
Newer homes around Newnan and across Coweta and Fayette counties have hardwired, interconnected alarms: they run on house power with a battery backup, and when one goes off, they all go off. That interconnection is the feature that gets people out of a house at night, because a fire in the basement sets off the alarm in the bedroom. Older homes have standalone battery units.
- Hardwired replacements have to be the same brand family or use a compatible connector so the interconnect keeps working. Mixing brands breaks the chain. Swap them all at once if they are all the same age, which they usually are.
- Sealed ten-year battery alarms are the right upgrade for a house without hardwired units. No battery changes, and the whole unit is replaced at ten years.
- Wireless interconnected battery alarms give an older house the all-go-off-together behaviour without running wire between rooms.
- Smart alarms send an alert to your phone, tell you which room, and can be silenced from the app. Worth it if you travel or have a rental; our rental property maintenance post covers why.
What a hardwired swap involves
Power off at the breaker, twist the old alarm off its bracket, unplug the harness, and reverse the process with the new bracket and harness. If the new alarm is a different brand, its harness is wired into the box in place of the old one. Test the interconnect by pressing the test button on one and confirming the others sound. A whole house of six or eight alarms is about an hour, and it is a good thing to add to any handyman visit where a ladder is already out.
New construction and major remodels in the area require alarms to current code, and adding a bedroom or finishing a basement usually means adding alarms too. Our post on finishing a basement covers the egress and alarm requirements.
Testing and cleaning
Press the test button monthly. Vacuum the outside of the alarm a couple of times a year, because dust and the insects that love Georgia attics get into the sensor and cause false alarms. Change backup batteries yearly if they are not sealed units. Write the replacement year on the side of each alarm in marker so nobody has to take it down to check.
Questions we get
Why does the alarm go off when nothing is burning?
Dust or insects in the sensor, steam from a bathroom, an alarm that is expiring, or a dying backup battery in a hardwired unit. Clean it, and if it continues, replace it.
Do I need CO alarms in an all-electric house?
If there is an attached garage or a fireplace, yes. If there is truly no combustion source, the risk is low, but a combination alarm costs little more than a smoke alarm.
Can a smart alarm replace a hardwired one?
Several smart models are hardwired and interconnect with each other. They generally do not interconnect with a different brand's existing units, so it is usually all or nothing.
Get them checked and replaced
Wright Way Services replaces smoke and CO alarms across Newnan, Coweta County and Fayette County. Call (770) 301-4638.
Open 24 hours · Newnan, GA
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