First Alert SA320CN Dual Sensor Battery-Powered Smoke and Fire Alarm

Kind of hard to review something that hasnt saved your life yet...It feels like its made of quality materials especially compared to the 16 year old smoke alarm it will be replacing/working along side.I like the drawer pull out for battery replacement. But as I have arthritis in my hands I found it a little bit hard to get the drawer out and the batteries out. Went in easy enough. That being said it was a LOT easier putting in the two AA batteries than finagling the old alarm and its 9v battery compartment.Comes with everything you need to mount except the screw driver and drill if you like to pre-drill.I would purchase again. Test seemed to work. But only time will tell, as with any sensor/alarm when there is something for it to sense and go off about. I believe it was rated well in consumer reports but do not quote me. Always check for yourself as this varies by year.I got this one because my old one is a smoke alarm only and I wanted to have a dual sensor smoke detector fire alarm. no, sensing smoke is not the same thing as sensing a sudden flame up. Smoke is smoldering and a sudden flame up doesnt necessarily have smoke to set the alarm off. Plus learning my old alarm is 16 years old made me feel a little iffy. Apparently some smoke alarms are guaranteed for 25 years. Not sure about the new one. Newer ones seem to be good for 10 years rather than 25. But I feel safer knowing both the old and the new are on board.Maybe more than you wanted to know but I thought if you are like me and you did not know that there are two types of alarms regarding possible fire you might appreciate the TMI.Cheers!

This is my second purchase of a First Alert Dual Sensor Smoke and Fire Alarm. I turned to this product after I found that the Kidde smoke detectors installed as part of the real estate transaction on the purchase of my new home were complete duds.I want to take this opportunity to point out that in some states it's no longer possible to buy a conventional battery-operated smoke alarm. I am glad Amazon did not prohibit the shipping to California, where I live, because I am absolutely convinced that our clueless legislators have created a public safety hazard by forcing the sale of smoke detectors to rely on 10-year (non-replaceable) batteries. Because I had "new" smoke detectors installed in my home and because the "Push to Test" feature worked, I could have been clueless for as long as 10 years that they were in fact inoperable units. The only reason I learned otherwise is because I nearly burned down my house using a vintage toaster (my bad) the second week after I moved in. I thought it was a fluke that neither of the Kidde smoke alarms went off since they were located in bedrooms (not the kitchen). But then I had a near miss a few weeks later when the damper (newly installed!) stuck closed on first use of my fireplace. In that instance, the entire house filled up with smoke to the point where I had to open all the windows and doors in the dead of winter and evacuate myself (asthma) and my pets to let the smoke clear. Again, the "new" Kidde smoke detectors with 10-year batteries failed to emit a single chirp. Further testing would reveal that even burning a paper towel with a lighter an inch away would not provoke the Kidde smoke detectors to sound an alarm.The problem with forcing consumers to rely on 10-year safety devices that are built to cheap Chinese standards is that they can be defective for that long and consumers may not be the wiser because the longer they stay in place and the less attention they require — i.e. to change out batteries on daylight savings as is the usual practice with a conventional smoke detector — the more likely it is that consumers will miss the fact that A) their device is defective or B) 10 years has lapsed and the battery is dead.I hope other States do not follow California's lead and that this dual-sensor smoke detector is not discontinued. Thanks to the wake-up call with the Kidde detectors — which relied on a single-sensor design — I performed the same paper-towel test with these First Alert smoke detectors and they passed. At the same time, these are not so sensitive that they produce false alarms.The reason I turned to First Alert was because I contacted Kidde in the hope that they would consider recalling the smoke alarms that did not work in my home. After all, what are the odds that not one but two would be defective? They agreed only to replace my smoke detectors — but they took TWO MONTHS to ship me the replacements, which was an unacceptable length of time to go without a working smoke detector in my home!If anything, my advice to politicians who are considering making laws about safety products of this type is that they mandate a dual-sensor design — but continue to give consumers the choice as to whether or not they prefer to change batteries annually or take their chances with the 10-year variety.Thank you, First Alert.

My smoke alarm beeped this morning to indicate need for a battery change. The instruction sheet for this product is NOT helpful. I needed a magnifying glass and still can't find the particular type of AA battery needed. I called customer support and, because he didn't know how to help me, he finally just put me on a "hold" that was actually a "get lost" sort of hold that never ended. The drawer wouldn't open because the instructions indicated nothing about pulling at a side angle. And because the diagrams are unbelievably poorly done I can't figure out where the A and B tabs are that you're supposed to pull to even remove the batteries. Please, First Alert, do better.

Wasn't even aware I needed "dual sensors" until my smoke alarm required battery replacement recently. Since my old alarms were over 10 years old I decided to get new ones and found these. They fit the brackets from my old First Alert alarms so no "install" was required. Just unscrewed the old ones and screwed on the new. So far very pleased. Had one 'toast making' incident that caused an alarm and it definitely sounded much sooner than a regular smoke alarm. Pleased to know they are sensitive enough to pick up on the faintest of fire triggers.

Installs easily when replacing the AC powered units I was replacing.the cut-outs for the mounting holes provided enough adjustment that only loosening the existing mounting screws was required to install the new mounting plate. Very nice touch!The two AA alkaline batteries should provide excellent life (1 year replacement is wise)... and the slide out batter drawer is convenient.All in all, a 10 minute job to remove the oll AC powered unit and get this one mounted.The 3 units were installed and working in about 30 minutes.