A Home Inspection and Upgrades: A Tale of Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

The homeowner expressed their gratitude towards the inspecting team for taking the time to assess their home's safety features. They mentioned that they had recently encountered an issue with a smoke detector in their master bedroom, which started chirping in the middle of the night and woke up the whole family. The inspection team explained that this was a common problem with old smoke detectors, which expire after 10 years.

The inspection team began by stating that the homeowner's house met all modern codes required for smoke detector locations. They pointed out three bedrooms upstairs, each with a required smoke detector, as well as one in the hallway. Downstairs, there was a single smoke detector located above a small hallway, which effectively covered the entire floor. Although there was no basement, the team noted that if there had been, additional detectors would have been necessary.

The inspection team highlighted an important feature of modern smoke detectors: the third wire, known as the interconnect wire. This wire sends a signal to all other devices when one of them goes off, making a loud noise to alert occupants of potential danger. However, each device has an expiration date and is only good for 10 years after its manufacture.

The inspection team addressed a concern raised by the homeowner: why had their home inspection not detected this issue? They explained that inspectors typically only check two things: if devices are in their correct locations and if they make a sound. The expiration of smoke detectors falls on the homeowner to replace them, regardless of the inspection's findings.

Moving on to carbon monoxide detectors, which are required on every living level, the team noted that these devices expire between 3-5 years after manufacture. Homeowners should check with the manufacturer for specific guidance. As a result of the inspection, all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the home would need to be replaced.

The inspection team showcased state-of-the-art technology, including a combination unit that includes both smoke and carbon monoxide detection in one device. This unit features ionization and photoelectric detection, which can handle various types of fires. It is powered by 120-volt electricity and has battery backup, as well as wireless interconnection to the homeowner's phone.

Before installing the new devices, the inspection team used an app to scan each device and assign it a location within the home. They also shut off power at the circuit panel and disconnected the old device. This allowed them to cap the third wire and tie in the new pigtail that supplies power to the house.

The installation process involved mounting custom plates for the devices, which were secured using existing screws. Once installed, the devices were programmed to work with the homeowner's Wi-Fi system. The team explained that this enabled communication between various devices, such as thermostats, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide alarms.

One of the key benefits of these new devices is their wireless interconnection, eliminating the need for a third wire. This feature makes it easier to install retrofit or remodel devices without existing infrastructure. Additionally, each device can send notifications to the homeowner's phone if there is an issue, such as a low battery level.

The inspection team tested the new devices by simulating a smoke emergency in the family room and pressing buttons on the app to test their functionality. The results showed that all devices worked correctly, alerting occupants with loud warnings and silencing when needed. This system provides peace of mind for homeowners, ensuring their safety and well-being at all times.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat a beautiful neighborhood and the house is just great thank you we've been here for two years and we're very happy we have two kids uh we also had a recent problem with the smoke detector in our master bedroom it started chirping in the middle of the night woke the whole family up and we had to remove it and so now we do not have one in the master bedroom which is not very safe okay so you have no smoke detector in your master bedroom right now that's correct and how about the rest of the home we do have some in the rest of the house I'm not sure how many and I think the only thing we've done was replace the batteries all right Carolyn so I've just done the inspection of your home for all the devices that you have we have some good news and we have some bad news start with the good news so first off your house meets all the modern codes that are required with smoke detector locations so upstairs you have three bedrooms there's a smoke detector required in each of the bedrooms there is and in the hallway there's a smoke detector upstairs down here on this level you need a smoke detector which we have right above here over there in that little hallway that covers the rest of the floor that's also really good okay and you had one in your master bedroom before you ripped it down there's no basement here so you don't need anything obviously cuz it's a slab but you would have needed one if you had a basement now they are powered by a battery but that's only for backup so the main power source is 120 volts now they have a third wire the third wire is called an interconnect wire what that wire does when one of the devices go off it sends a signal to all the other devices and makes a real loud racket let you know that there's something in alarm so that's all the good news the bad news is that each one of these devices has an expiration date they're only good 10 years after the date of manufacturer this one was manufactured almost 20 years ago okay so I'm confused because we just bought this house 2 years ago and we had a home inspection and they told us that these are working and sir are you saying my house is not safe well the inspectors are only checking two things they're checking if the devices are in their locations that they're supposed to be and they're checking to see if they make a sound the expiration part of it is on you as the homeowner you're required to remove them and look and check yourself okay now regarding carbon monoxide detectors carbon monoxide detectors are required on every living level so upstairs you have a carbon monoxide detector which is plugged into the wall outlet down here you have a carbon monoxide smoke detector that's good so carbon monoxide detectors they expire every 3 to 5 years you got to check with the manufacturer on that one now we have to replace all the devices in your house anyhow so we might as well just give you the latest technology and I brought some pretty cool stuff let me show you awesome thanks okay this is what we're going to install today okay this is a combination unit meaning it has both smoke and and carbon monoxide detector all built into one nice little package awesome now the smoke detector currently right now you have ionization detection which basically is your flash fires your real quick burning fires this has a second type of detector which is photoelectric which is great for those smoldering fires that start real slow and create a lot of smoke this has both built in now this is connected with 120 volt power source and it also has battery backup but the interconnection is wirelessly so you don't need that third wire which is fantastic for a retrofit or remodel where it's not existing into the house already now this connects wirelessly to your phone also so anywh you have internet connection you can tell what's going on in your house okay now before we install these we've got to go to the app scan each device and assign it a location in your home anytime I do electrical work the power needs to be shut off at the circuit panel first we're going to pull down the old device since we don't need the third interconnect wire anymore longer I can cap it off with a wire net now I can tie in the new pigtail that they supplied us to The house's power supply they also Supply this custom mounted plate which I tie into the existing device box using the existing screws then we do the same thing for the remaining devices okay so where we all set okay the devices have all been programmed they've all been installed and the power is back on now that is tied into your wi-fi system so basically what that means is it's the Internet of Things there's a whole bunch of things all connected and they speak to each other okay that thermostat over there is part of that Network ties into your smoke detectors what basically means is that if you had a carbon monoxide alarm that went off the thermostat would actually shut off your furnaces kind of maybe solving the problem okay so there's a battery in each one of these units now just like all batteries they eventually have their life and need to be changed instead of that chirp chir chirp chirp that you hear in the middle of the night I know that trip we know how that went yeah it's going to notify your phone that the battery needs to be replaced which should be a lot more convenient for you yes what a relief that's going to be it's good now they have to be tested so I could just press the test button which I've already done to make sure it works okay right here I'm going to use matches it'll give us a real life scenario here heads up there's smoke in the family room the alarm may sound just a warning emergency and then all the other ones in the house are going off you hear that y i do press to silence okay so you just press this right here to silence it and then we hold it in the middle okay and that silences it right there pretty loud huh it's very loud it just gives you acknowledgement that everything works sure real nice system and everything's safe everything's really safe you can sleep tight tonight\n"