Kidde Intelligent Detector Alarm Battery Operated Combination Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector Alarm | Model KN-COSM-XTR-BA

Needed to replace the 20+ year old standard First Alert SA67B smoke alarm in my room and wanted something with voice and combo detection as we have a propane fireplace. After struggling to find a battery powered combo unit with voice from Kidde, I finally found this. For $20, this is a great smoke/CO alarm to have in your home.Pros:-Easy to install, comes with the hardware and two new batteries to start out with-Takes 2 AA batteries unlike the more expensive 9 volt, and is easier to remove and replace unlike some of the 9V units;even easier with the front loading battery compartment-Has hush feature, you push the multi-function test/hush button in the middle of the alarm if you set it off accidentally, and the large button makes it easy to to test and silence it. Speaking of the test portion, you just push it instead of having to hold it down unlike most which is good if it is high on a ceiling or wall, so you can easily tap it with a broomstick or something else. Same goes for the hush feature.-Has voice function, which behaves in the following ways:If detecting smoke, unit will emit a loud three long beeps and pause, during which it will say in a fairly hearable female voice "Fire!", then beep another three times, pause with no voice, then repeat.If detecting CO, unit will emit four loud short beeps and pause, saying "Warning, Carbon Monoxide!", beep another four short beeps, pause with no voice, then repeat.If detecting a low or loose battery condition, unit will emit a loud, short "chirp" once a minute, following with "Low Battery!". The voice will only repeat every 15 minutes I believe, so it won't annoy you too much more than a standard unit would.It also features a memory function for detecting previous CO, which means when you come back from vacation or something you can push the button and it will say something like "Carbon Monoxide Previously Detected!". Pushing it again will test the unit, which should be done weekly per the unit itself, but at least monthly at the minimum. Also this alarm features a End Of Life warning chirp, which will behave differently (two chirps instead of one I believe, with no voice prompt). This can be silenced for 3 days up to a month to give you a grace period to but another. So far, I highly recommend this alarm and other Kidde products!

I ordered a 4-pack of these Smoke/CO detectors. They installed easily and have been working ok. Note: one of the four has constantly gone off "warning, fire" at odd times scaring the crap out of me. There is no smoke/fire, but some kind of defect in the unit. It happened once in a while at first, now it's happening weekly and I've had to pop the batteries out. Even though all (4) have the same battery schedule, I changed the batteries in this one and it didn't help; it may be humidity related (I live in the NE and do not have AC). It would be great if the mfr would replace this one, but I am not optimistic. The other (3) have performed without issue.

Wired smoke and CO detectors are standard in new construction these days, but for an older house, the battery-powered detectors are still very economical, and they have improved a lot over the years. I just replaced all three of ours with these Kidde detectors, after having a good experience with wired Kidde detectors elsewhere. These have some real advantages. They work even if the house's power goes off. They announce what set off the alarm and even when the batteries are low. Apparently, one thing to know is that you should only use alkaline batteries in these, as the low-battery warning is triggered as the batteries power slowly diminishes over time, so the warning will continue for longer than it would with lithium-ion batteries, which have a very steep decline in power over a short period of time, maybe too short for you to be home to hear the low-battery warning. At any rate, installation was easy, the detectors mounted to the screws that were used with the old smoke detectors, even though they were a different brand. Contrary to what other reviewers mentioned, I had no trouble identifying the positive and negative direction for the two supplied AA batteries (nice not to have to use those expensive 9-volt batteries that other detectors use). You just determine the direction of the batteries (positive and negative symbols are designated in the battery troughs and are visible in good light), press the red plastic no-battery "fingers" down (they both fold in the same direction, even though the batteries point in opposite directions), place the extraction tape in the in the trough, and add one battery, then do the other the same way in the opposite direction. As soon as the second battery is in, you get a beep and a voice command to press the test button. Then the detector goes through its warnings, and ends with a final beep and blink of a green light, indicating that everything is set. I’m not sure why others had trouble getting the batteries in. It just takes a moment of study and a little practice. By the third detector, it was a piece of cake!

Easy to install, appears to work as advertised, good price! Bought 4

We need more smoke alarms (and possibly CO alarms) that we realize. Buy one or two or three and install them. Installation requires a drill or maybe just some big biceps. Two quick drill holes, screw in the bracket on the ceiling, install the provided batteries, write the date installed on the side of the unit, screw the unit into the bracket, and feel good about keeping your family safe. I think I purchased three of these, since I was so satisfied with the first one.