AboutDave Neuweiler Expertise The design and application of burglary and fire systems for homes and businesses. Helping alarm owners understand how their system works. Helping to troubleshoot false alarm problems. Questions about monitoring issues.
Experience Over a quarter century in the industry. Experience in installation, service, and monitoring centers. Training manager for a national protective services company; director of education and training for a national trade organization for for alarm dealers.
Question We have a couple of hardwired smoke detectors in our basement that are still problem free for 10 years and test OK. They were installed by the previous owner, so I have no idea how old they really are. Do all smoke alarms have a finite life and, if so, how frequently should they be replaced. I have seen newer battery powered smoke and CO alarms with "replace by" dates (approx. 9 years). I would not have thought so, but is there a difference between hard wired & battery alarms?
Answer Hello Graham, and thanks for writing.
In terms of the useful life of smoke detectors, there's no difference between hard-wired and battery-only smoke detectors.
As for the actual useful life, I've not seen a manufacturer go beyond ten years.
You asked about a finite life, and I think you can say there's an "average" useful life. To me it's sort of like asking how long your car will last... no good answer there, because it depends a lot on the environment, usage, maintenance, etc.
In your case, you have but two detectors that seem to be working well. They could go another couple of years, I suppose... but if you're concerned with their age, and with the cost of detectors so low, why not just change them out and be done with it?
