said by fifty nine:Absolutely. Those are BACKUP batteries that you don't change every year.
Manufacturers blanket suggestion is to replace them when you change clocks for daylight savings time. It's likely far more frequently then needed unless you routinely burn your dinner. It's merely a suggestion just like changing your oil at 3 months-3000 miles. You can probably go quite a bit longer, even years. But replacing them at some interval, even if the battery has significant usable life left in them is far better then forgetting to change them, relying on a chirp that may not happen, and living with the consequences.
Then you might as well just make them all battery powered and not go through the expense of having them wired.
And none of mine are. And I bet most aren't. But it's an option. It never hurts to have options and backups.
If you "borrow" the 9v battery from a wired detector, the detector will keep chirping.
Right...but if it's only a 9V detector and you borrow it, it doesn't. The end goal is to make sure that you're protected regardless if one of power source is non operational. They figure you'd notice if you don't have AC. And if the battery is missing or low, chirping to make you replace it.
Changing it once a year seems acceptable. Changing the battery twice a year? Seems like duracell trying to drum up business.
Possibly. But
here's what First Alert says:
quote:
How long will the smoke detector battery last in my smoke alarm?
Actual battery service life depends on the particular design of your smoke or carbon monoxide detector and the environment in which it is installed. All kinds of detector batteries specified in the users manual are acceptable replacement batteries. Regardless of the manufacturer's suggested battery life, you MUST replace the batteries immediately once the unit starts "chirping" (the "low battery warning"). It is recommended that you change the batteries in your alarms when you change your clocks for daylight saving time.