General Question

srmorgan's avatar

How long do smoke detectors last?

Asked by srmorgan (6773points) April 2nd, 2013

We have been in this house for 19 years and some of the smoke detectors have never been touched.
These are wired into a socket in the ceiling, they are not battery-operated. They might not meet code anymore, now that I think of it.

Do the filters need to be changed? Can we even find replacement smoke detectors that will plug into the ceiling?
Thanks

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3 Answers

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

If I had a question about them I would replace them. You can’t put a price on your families safety. Battery ones go anywhere.

dabbler's avatar

At that age they are not likely to be carbon-monoxide detectors also, which is likely today.
A lot of smoke detectors can last that long if they are clean between the ambient air intake and the detector.
Most carbon-monoxide detectors have a tiny trace of mildly radioactive material that will be sub-performing in probably less than five years.

Maybe you can just put battery-op detectors where you currently have the plug-ins?

LuckyGuy's avatar

It depends upon the technology used. If they work optically they can last “forever”.
The ionizing /radioactive types last about 5 years.
Test them. Light a piece of paper, blow it out and let the smoke hit the detector. They should go off.

Dectectors are so cheap now you can replace them with a combined CO and smoke unit for $15–25. Have at least one from this century in the house.

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