When our homes were built, AC smoke (detector) alarms with battery back-up
were installed in sleeping rooms and hallways throughout the house. Because
they are all AC connected, if one alarms “goes off”, they all “go off” with an ear-piercing 85 DB alarm sound.

We are familiar with changing the 9V battery in each
smoke alarm every 6 months. But did you know that the Smoke Alarms
themselves must be replaced every 10 years? Our homes in Foxwood HOA were
built in 2001. So, if your home has the original smoke alarms, you are 10 years
overdue in changing them. I found this out the hard way, just after midnight on
December 27, 2021, the night after the large snowstorm.

I was in bed, just about to go to sleep, when all the smoke alarms in the house
started alarming. I rushed around to all the rooms in the house, including the
attic and garage but found no smoke or fire anywhere. Not knowing why the
alarms were all going off nor how to silence them, I called 911. I reported that all
the house smoke alarms were going off, but that there was no smoke or fire. In
about 20 minutes, the Fire Dept. full-ladder rig came rumbling up the snowy hill
and parked diagonally in front of my house. The firefighters greeted me and
quickly went into the house to inspect all the rooms. One firefighter found that
the smoke alarm in my bedroom had a red indicator light on. When he
disconnected it, all the alarm sounds throughout the house stopped. He turned it
over and saw the manufacture date on the alarm was 2000FEB15. Another
firefighter found a downstairs smoke alarm that had no indicator light on. It was
completely dead. The firefighters reminded me that smoke alarms must be
changed every 10 years to avoid this type of “false alarm”.

Within a few days, I was at Home Depot and purchased 7 new smoke alarms.
Brand is Kidde FIREX Smoke Alarm 120V AC/DC Hardwired with Front Battery
Door 9V battery backup. I also had to purchase a Kidde wiring adapter (KA-F2) for
each alarm, to be able to install the new Kidde alarm to the older wiring harness
installed back in 2001. A package of 4 smoke alarms was $54.97, a single smoke
alarm was $16.97. The wiring adapters are $4.50 each. A neighbor was kind
enough to do the installations, with each taking about 15 minutes to install. It’s a
DIY project, or you could hire an electrician to come in and install them all at
once.

I was also able to recycle the old smoke alarms in a recycle area in the front lobby
of the Kirkland City Public Works at 123 5th Ave., Kirkland, WA 98033.
Is it time to replace your home’s smoke alarms? If you have the originals still in
your home, the answer is a definitive YES. Don’t wait for the “false alarm” that
brings the Fire Department to your front door in the middle of the night.

Questions?
Contact: Jan Radoslovich, Foxwood HOA Board Secretary
Cell Phone: (206) 718-3399
E-mail: jmrad8642@gmail.com