Peep! (Part Two)

Wow, I'm a bit stunned. In my previous post I whined about how smoke alarms never seem to signal a low battery at a convenient time. Then I bemoaned the inability to find a replacement of the same brand and how this was a problem caused by incompatibilities in the way interconnected smoke detectors are interconnected.

The second comment to that post is Anonymous, but it's pretty clear that it was posted by a FireX employee. I can guarantee that a Kidde employee wouldn't have included the comment about FireX making smoke alarms for over 25 years.

But it brings up a serious issue: fire safety and the impact of standards on safety. I'd like to ask the nice folks at Firex (and Kidde and all other brands) two questions:

1. Why don't you make your batteries easier to replace?
2. Why don't you make it easier to replace an old or failed smoke alarm?

Oh, and here's another one:

HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?

Years ago you'd see a report on the evening news about a fatal house fire and the reporter would say in somber tones, "there were no smoke alarms in the house."

But listen now and the comment is somewhat different.

There were no WORKING smoke alarms in the house.

That one extra word is huge, and it is the reason that I ask how the makers of smoke alarms can sleep at night.

I know from personal experience that replacing the batteries in my old smoke alarms was difficult, and often physically painful. To start with, the battery was hard to get to — you had to remove the alarm from the ceiling to get to it. And far too often, twisting the alarm to remove it from the base plate caused the base plate to come off the ceiling with the alarm. And it was hard to separate the two pieces because there were no really good places to grab hold, and the alarms were large enough around that it was hard to get a really tight grip, and there were lots of sharp little plastic bits. When you did manage to separate the base plate from the alarm, the door was hard to pry open with a fingernail. And when you did get it open there was that infernal 9-volt battery connector that is so hard to get off.

Backing up again to that base plate problem: yes, I could put it on the ceiling so that turning the alarm wouldn't remove the plate with it. But then putting the alarm back on would make the plate come off! Tighten the screws holding the plate, you say? What a brilliant idea! Unfortunately, the screws only go into those stupid keyhole slots. Nothing to hold them tight but friction. And since we're talking about wired alarms, they're mounted over electrical boxes. That means that at least part of the plastic around the keyhole is over air. Plastic flexes under pressure. Do too much and you either break it or you deform it so much that the base plate no longer mates with the alarm. And if you find that happy middle ground, just wait a year and the base plate will have weakened enough that — wait for it — it'll come off with the alarm!

What happens when batteries are too hard to replace? They don't get replaced. Is that the homeowners fault? Partly. But I think the companies who make the devices also share some of the blame. And they know it. How do I know that they know it? Because some new models have batteries that are very easy to replace. My new Kidde smoke alarms have a front accessible battery compartment and don't use that hated battery connector. I look forward to years of easy battery replacements.

But I noticed something. Not all Kidde smoke alarms have this easy to replace battery. FireX also has some, but not all, models with easy to replace batteries. Why not all? What possible reason can they give to justify the deaths that must surely occur because of unreplaced smoke alarm batteries?

And then there's the lifetime issue. Everything has a lifetime. Nothing lasts forever. I accept that. But why is there the vendor lock-in for those wonderful AC powered, interconnected smoke alarms? Are they looking out for the safety of the end-user with that proprietary connector and signaling specification? Or are they trying to support electrical contractors and their own market share?

The anonymous poster was right. Many people lack the skill or confidence or time or money to rewire their smoke alarms while replacing the whole lot. But why should they have to have any skill or confidence or even much time? Why should they have to replace them all at once? Why should they have to rewire? Why should they have to hire a contractor?

I had to replace one of my smoke alarms a few years ago. I was replacing all of the batteries and one alarm started sounding the instant I put in its new battery. Not chirping — full volume alarm tone. I pulled out the battery and called FireX. They replaced the unit and I was reasonably happy. But not anymore.

Again, I accept that everything has a lifetime. But when you're talking about something like this it would sure be nice to be able to replace them over a few months. But that wasn't an option because none of the local retail establishments carry FireX. Faced with the choice to leave a hole where the failed alarm had been (an old, failed alarm was what started this whole thing) and saving up the money, or biting the bullet and replacing them all right now, I chose to replace them all right now.

But why was that choice necessary? How many people can't afford to do what I did? And that isn't even considering the cost of hiring someone since I did it myself. How many people have no choice but to wait. And hope.

There were no working smoke alarms in the house.

Standards are good. Standards save lifes. Ease of use is good. Ease of use saves lives.

How do you sleep at night?