Every home should be equipped with smoke detectors the real question at hand is which one will better suite your
family’s needs.
Dependability – Battery-powered alarms will eventually run out of power and stop sounding off the alarm.
The amount of time it will sound off depends on how much battery life it started with. In homes with thicker walls
or if you are not home at the time it starts going off you may wish you had a battery with a longer lifespan. However
hard wired alarms will keep sounding until they are manually turned off.
Combining Systems – Battery powered alarms stand alone in case of emergency, where as a hard wired alarm
can be linked together so that if one alarm sounds off in your home they will all sound off. Which will allow everyone
in your home to be alerted of a potential problem. Most if not all alarm companies will also connect your fire alarm
up to there system so in case of an emergency the authorities will be alerted.
Battery Back-Up – Hard wired alarms also have a battery back-up in case of a power outage. Battery powered alarms do
not have a back-up battery source which means if you do lose power for a substantial amount of time your smoke detectors will not be able to warn you in a emergency situation.
Maintenance – Smoke detectors have a certain amount of life, depending on the manufactures specifications, owners need to be aware of this. Most often when you visually see that they have yellowed in color it is usually a hint that they need to be replaced. As always follow up with the manufacture.
Incentives – There can sometimes be insurance benefits to a hard wired system, so always check with your insurance agent to see if these benefits apply to you.
At the end of the day you need to determine which option best serves your family’s needs. As licensed electricians we know that hard wired smoke detectors are a better way to go, but like always installation and maintenance expenses should be considered.