KiddeWireless Smoke Detector, 10-Year Battery, Voice Alerts, Photoelectric Sensor Wire-Free Smoke Alarm, White

Back in 2015 I had replaced all the smoke and combo detectors with Kidde/Firex models. The smoke-only detectors were OK, but the combos were subject to frequent false alarms. Worse, when one went off, you had to run around the house looking for the one detector (we have eleven!) with the blinking light to see which signaled.After the latest 3AM false alarm, I decided to replace them all with the 4010 series detectors. The best feature is that when they all sound, you hit the mute button on one and all except the signaling detector go quiet. I also like that the LED ring showing AC power is illuminated only when there is sufficient ambient light (takes about 30 seconds for it to fade in, and then fade out when darkness comes.) When the time comes to replace the battery, the detectors will NOT beep when it is dark, and you can temporarily silence the low-battery beep. But with a 10-year battery, that's also time to replace the detector.These detectors are different in shape than the old models in that there is a bulge that protrudes into the electrical box - if you have a shallow box, you may find this crowds the wires. While you can reuse the older wiring connectors, the 4010 series has a short cable coming out of the back, with a socket into which you connect the plug. This too takes up space in the box.The detectors communicate with Bluetooth, and I found the pairing instructions easy to follow. I started with three combination detectors, then added smoke-only detectors. The build quality seems higher than the older models and after a month so far, no false alarms.

I connected and hung 6 units, and while I was at it, replaced all of the wiring harnesses. The setup is fairly simple once you wade through the confusing array of the notifications in the manual. The alarm error codes are way too complicated.Everything was great for about 90 days, then everything went downhill. Out of nowhere, one of the bedroom units started sounding false alarms: Sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. Yes, I vacuumed all around the units before installing. No, we were not cooking, we were not painting, showering, smoking, dusting, or anything. The triggering unit is nowhere near a bathroom. On most occasions, we were simply watching TV or just talking.To make matters worse, they can't be silenced! When I press the button on ANY of the detectors while sounding (the triggering one, OR another one), I either hear a double low tone, like an error, or "Cannot Silence - Too much Smoke!" There was no smoke. They finally stop on their own after a full minute or so. The triggering alarm unit beeps 3 times, then stops with no sound or blinking, while the others sound for the full minute, unable to be manually silenced. We've observed this scenario each time. This is NOT the behavior stated in the manual. (Yes, they are wirelessly connected because I can hear the voice response on all of them when testing.)Within a week, another unit started doing false alarms (different floor). I took both down, and vacuumed in and around the rest. (This shouldn't be necessary after only 3 months btw.)Kidde support had no clue what was wrong; they simply sent 2 replacements. In the meantime, luckily I still had some older ones, which did not suffer false alarms, but required battery replacement.Over the next 2 weeks while awaiting replacements, the two alarms I took down kept sounding at random times while sitting on a table, fully reset and disconnected from the network. 3 beeps at a time. Unreal!3 weeks later, a 3rd unit (different floor) started going off randomly. You can't possibly tell me that bugs or dust are suddenly entering all of these alarms on different areas of the house.This same false alarm problem happened with our previous Kidde units. It took 4 replacements out of 6 to finally have a full set of units that would not randomly sound false alarms. Obviously, the photoelectric technology has not improved. These are complete junk. We will no longer purchase the Kidde brand.

Our old detectors, or more precisely the CO2 detector part of them, wore out. They are programmed to alarm when the CO2 detector is kaput, emitting a beep every 60 seconds to tell you.The trouble is, ours started doing this at 3 AM. If you can imagine trying to figure out why there were several persistent beeps going off while you are attempting to gain consciousness you can really imagine a good time.So we looked around for quick replacements, went to Home Depot, and got confused by the sheer number of units (wired vs wireless vs if I connect in maddeningly similar boxes) and summarily bought the wrong ones - My wife - “these don’t have CO2 sensors”. We decided to change them all, despite the non-CO2 units theoretically lasting another 3 years. So found these, got them installed, and they work great, syncing to each other easily.I did have to change some of the mounting brackets, and they were no easy to put in, thus d0cking them a star. They now hav a raised bubble on the back that makes the wire storage very tight, as the contractor did not allow for this in 2013. I mean, who knew?All in all I really like the Kidde line, except for the 3 AM alarm - which these are supposed to avoid due to a light sensor. Hope that works, will let you know in 2027....

just replaced all our builder grade first alert detectors after we have had multiple false alarms. Seems that no matter what brand you will find reviews with false alarms. Hoping these are fewer false alarms than the builder grade detectors.These are easy to pair in a matter of seconds and they utilize the backup battery to connect and in power outages but will rely on hardwire power to operate under normal conditions.I did have to install the new harness but its a simple 3 wire connection. If your house was wired properly, then everything is color coded to make the black/hot, white/neutral, and orangish red/interconnect connections a breeze. Make sure you turn the power off before wiring or you could get a little shock. Fortunately, our electrician used deep boxes so there was plenty of room for wires.Will update after they have been up for a while...