# Smoke alarm with 9v battery or sealed lithium?



## gtomseeley (Sep 2, 2019)

Pbly starting a brand war, but I wanna know so I'll ask.

I need to replace all our 15-yr old Firex 1182B smoke alarms that are hard wired and have 9v batteries. I've figgered out Kidde makes them now, under their name. But Kidde only has about a bazillion "flavors"! Why can't things be simple?! (Their website even offers alarms they say are for the living room, the bedroom, or a hallway! What does the smoke care which room it's in!? If the house is on fire, I sure don't!)

I'm trying to decide if I'd be better off with new 9v battery models or models with sealed 10-yr lithium batteries. From what I've seen online up till now, $ is not an object. It's for personal safety, after all. 

Please help me understand the pros and cons of each battery "flavor". Clearly, getting up in the middle of the night to replace ANOTHER OF THE **** THINGS is not my favorite thing to do at 3 am! But i've seen at least one msg on this board saying the 10-yr sealed versions have horrible track records!


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## SW Dweller (Jan 6, 2021)

Most detectors are good for 10 years, yours are over due for replacement.
You say hard wired and a battery, Does one go off and they all go off? Required in most new homes/codes now days. 
LI will definitely last longer but is more money. I hate changing batteries so I would lean toward the LI.

I had the same issue with Kidde when I called them for my new home. They pissed me off so bad that I bought a Edwards 5 zone panel, one battery in the panel. Easy change out and the detectors are 20 bucks a piece.

The one goes off and they all go off is a feature that you might consider. However you should choose a detector that will tell you which one tripped. I had trouble with that point so I chose a different way. My new home the ceiling are 15 feet high and I do not need to be on a ladder that high putzing with silly stuff any more. 

Now for the other shoe, when the new ones time out in 10 years none of what you learned now will be vaild as the tech will have changed.


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## gtomseeley (Sep 2, 2019)

SW Dweller said:


> Now for the other shoe, when the new ones time out in 10 years none of what you learned now will be vaild as the tech will have changed.


ROFL! Can’t top that! Only way I can match that is to say in ten years I’ll either Be in an old folks home or dead! So it won’t matter!


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## quatsch (Feb 4, 2021)

> Why can't things be simple?


They want to see what the public will buy.
They want to tire you out so you will decide for emotional rather than rational reasons.
An old folks' home is not assisted living, it is assisted dying. They're predators. At least vultures wait till you're dead.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

The 10 year battery may battery may be mandated in your area. Install once and done. NFPA has the Change your clock change your battery for replaceable batteries like 9v. The 10 year avoids the need to haul out a ladder every 6 months.


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## SW Dweller (Jan 6, 2021)

"NFPA has the Change your clock"

pretty sure that is an old wife's tale


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

Either battery type will still provide safety as backup to the 120 VAC primary power. The only real difference is that when the 9V battery gets weak you'll have to pull out a ladder and change the battery.

Pricing for the hard-wired Li backup powered alarms are about $13 for First Alert. So, there is virtually no cost difference.

Spend the extra dollar or two and get the LI backup version and avoid climbing a ladder to change the battery twice a year (or so) for ten years.


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## user_12345a (Nov 23, 2014)

If the sealed lithium battery goes pre-maturely, the alarm will be garbage.
In a hard wired alarm that only uses the battery for power failures, a regular 9v can last years if you use a decent alkaline or lithium.

Kidde has had a lot of problems with all their sealed battery alarms.

The most important thing though is that you incorporate some photo-electric alarms, because ionization ones don't respond to smoke from smoldering fires fast enough. ion does have a small advantage for fast flaming fires.


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