A recent article in the National Association of Home Builder's web site prompted me to write this post.  With the coming of a new year, we should remember to review the installation date of all of our smoke detectors and replace those that have been in service for more than 10 years.

Most smoke alarm manufacturers recommend replacing smoke alarms older than 10 years.  Smoke alarms have a limited life. Although each smoke alarm and all of its parts have passed many stringent tests and are designed to be as reliable as possible, any of these parts could fail over time. Therefore, you must test the devices weekly. The unit should be replaced immediately if it is not operating properly. The performance of smoke detectors older than 10 years is simply not reliable. To ensure your family's safety, all carbon monoxide and smoke/CO combination alarms need to be replaced every 5 years. All smoke alarms need to be replaced every 10 year.

At Electrical Marketplace, we make it easy to replace all obsolete smoke detectors with the BRK First Alert 9120B Smoke Alarm.  This device can be used as a replacement for the obsolete 4120B Smoke Detector as well.  Since most homes use several smoke detectors, we sell this device in a case of six at a price of $8.55 each.  If you are replacing Smoke and Carbon Monoxide combination alarms, take a look at the SC9120B.  This device is available for $43.32 each.