BRK SC7010B-3 Hardwired Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detector with Battery Backup, 3-Pack

Just received two of these today, but I had to return one unit. Defective unit came in a box which had been taped on one end and the batteries were missing. Unit did not indicate that it was receiving A/C power (hardwired) when checking the green light on the face of the unit, although it was receiving battery power. Removed batteries, unit would not operate in any capacity at that point. Removed wire nuts to make sure wiring harness was making contact with existing wire in electrical box, looked to be in good order. Switched mounting locations to confirm that it was indeed an issue with the unit and not the power source or harness, but it still didn't work. Other unit was fine. Submitted return ticket with Amazon and I am confident it will be resolved quickly. Units were replacements for 18 year old ionization models. Changed mounting bracket and wiring harness easily. Units mounted easier to the installation brackets than older Firex units that they were replacing. Glanced at instruction and they seemed to be straight forward and easy to follow which would be a plus for anyone with limited electrical knowledge. Units came with dust covers which I thought was an excellent idea in case you are remodeling or this is going in new construction. This combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarm has two distinct alarms depending on which event is triggering the alarm. Battery access was simple, so changing out batteries would be a piece of cake. Definitely easier to access than the Firex models they replaced. Overall, I really liked this particular First Alert combination alarm. I will upgrade score depending on how the situation with the defective unit is handled. Update 8/27/2018: Went from 4 star to 5 star rating. Return/swap of defective unit was handled quickly and all units that were purchased have been operating perfectly.

Overall, a very good unit, physically not obtrusive or annoying, just hangs on the wall watching for signs of a fire or high CO levels...barely notice it is there, until it goes off, but that's the purpose of its existence :-) Had an ionizing detector in our bedroom, kept going off whenever toast was burned in the kitchen on other side of house, LOL. (Full disclosure, we previously changed out the kitchen's to CO-only unit because smoke detection was not recommended in that zone, and it was a pure nuisance if doing anything beyond reheating something in the microwave...) After visiting the manufacturer's website, we found they recommended a photoelectric detector for bedrooms anyhow. Ordered this model because we have BRK/First Alert hardwired detectors in our house already, so their wiring plug was in place. Mounting base had to be changed, they are keyed by size to specific detector types so once installed, you don't rehang wrong type detector in the wrong area if you take any down for whatever reason...painting walls a different color is a good example of why one might temporarily remove a smoke detector. Really like the new broad spectrum sound for warnings, much easier on ears in general. Designed to not overload hearing aids yet still be detectable for people with hearing impairment. Can't couch for that part, but I can focus on getting safely out of my house when we do fire drills, instead of trying to cover my ears to stop the piercing pain, so it's a win for us :-) Safety advice: smoke detectors have a 10 year working life, and should be replaced accordingly per NFPA and BRK/First Alert's recommendations. With that, the first couple detectors we ordered on Amazon (specifically, from Amazon Warehouse Deals) were apparently rather old stock, having 2 and 3 years remaining before "expiration" and were each returned to Amazon with return comments that the respective unit was nearing end of NFPA's recommended effective life, should not be sold as "like new" when instead were *very old* stock -- 3rd one was a keeper, had a 2019 mfr date -- so word to the wise, check those dates for your own safety!

exactly as shown and described

I bought these because we were having issues with the smoke detectors going off randomly. It was happening so badly that we had to have the fire department come out to make sure there wasn't carbon monoxide or anything we were missing. While there they were able to let me know that the number of beeps that we hear for the detector can often times be informative for what the alert is about. There are also lights on the detector that can indicate if there is a problem or if it needs to be replaced (according to them). I replaced 2 of the detectors that we had like this and it was as easy as doing a hot swap. We haven't had any issues since then. The detectors that we replaced were from when the house was built in 2020 and I don't feel like they should have gone bad already which is why I docked this 1 star for durability.

Almost a year ago now, I ripped out all of the smoke and CO detectors in my house. I replaced them all with hard-wired detectors during a home remodel in accordance with NFPA guidelines (e.g. one in every sleeping quarter, gathering area, outside the door of every sleeping area, bottom/top of every stair, etc). The hard part was crawling around in unfinished areas of the house to run wire everywhere: once I had 12/3 NM-B in every ceiling box, wiring up these detectors was quick and easy. Each detector has a base that screws onto the junction box. It is a plastic flange that covers a quarter inch or so around the box, helping to mask the edges of the paint job or any irregularities in the drywall cutting. The wire hardness snaps into the detector, which then twists onto the flange. It comes with a label where you can write the data of install for future reference. It looks great compared to your Home Depot special, where you are lucky to get more than two that are compatible with each other. So far I have had zero false alarms after 8+ months of being installed. They have done better than the old ones that nuisance tripped by frying bacon - and the new ones are installed close to the old ones. Hitting the test button, they all go off within a second or two and are LOUD. They could wake the dead, which is important because I may as well be dead when I am sleeping. A train could smash its way through the house and I would not wake up. These things are loud enough to make my ears hurt more than a rock concert. I have burned a few candles near them and they have not triggered, but have not tried with actual fires, e.g. burning a 2x4 close by. It seems like smoke detectors have gone downhill lately, but these seem to work well enough based on my own observation and on other reviews.

Pros of First Alert Brand of detectors * Made in Mexico * Maintains a take-back hazardous waste disposal program - for ionization smoke alarms. * comparable pricing to other brands Cons: * Might need to change the hardwire and interconnect pigtails if replacing a different brand of smoke detector I replaced several FireX/Kiddie smoke & CO alarms with First Alert models SC7010B, SC7010BV, & BRK 3120B. Changing the power and interconnect pigtails isn't hard, but I purchased the First Alert BRK ADF-12 adapter plugs [ASIN: B0039PJK40] to make the process easier for the many alarms that I had. Each alarm took less than 10 minutes to replace. The process was straightforward: Replace the faceplate, connect the adapter plug and connect the First Alert smoke alarm. Easy-peezy! It's been only a short time since they have been installed, but no false alarms yet! Ionization smoke detectors contain a small amount of radioactive material (1 micro curie of Americium 241). The radioactive element should be disposed of at a radioactive waste facility. Some municipalities offer to dispose of the ionization alarms properly, while others to do not. As of Sept 2019, FireX/Kiddie discontinued it's take-back disposal program. The Kiddie website now states: "Typically, alarms may be disposed of in your regular, residential trash. Verify with your local municipality regarding disposal ordinances before disposing of an alarm." This is so egregious! Kidde isn't a responsible manufacturer when it comes to handling their product at end of life. What happens when your local municipality does not have a safe disposal program for the radioactive material in ionization detectors? Kiddie is flaunting that they simply do not care about the environment. That alone is the reason to purchase from First Alert instead of Kiddie - First Alert has continued to maintain its take-back hazardous waste disposal program. Think about the future generation when deciding which smoke detector to purchase! In the end, I'm happy with my purchase knowing I gave my money to First Alert, a company that still cares about the environment!!

Please, by all means, buy these and support their shady business. 🙄 I bought over $300 worth of these smoke detectors because they advertised a 10-year battery life. Sounds great, right!!? Not so much. One of them randomly went off in our bedroom, while none of the other alarms chimed in like they were supposed to. I unplugged it, blew out any possible debris, and figured that would solve the problem. Nope. Moments later, the alarm started screaming again. The Hush button didn’t work, and you can’t simply remove the battery to shut the thing up. At that point, Mr. Rock had to work on it just to get the damn thing to stop. I couldn’t even bring myself to go through the hassle of returning it because it wouldn’t shut the hell up long enough to deal with it. So, yes!!! go ahead and buy these overpriced pieces of crap and waste your money. Or save yourself the headache and buy the cheaper ones that actually work and replace the batteries every year or so. $300+ wasted. Extremely disappointed. And there were no one taking a shower nor cooking food. Don’t blame it on steam or Smokey food.

Hate to see they discontinued these. They are identical to the original ones that were hanging when I purchased my home in 2014. Ordered up the three pack and one additional to replace all 4 in my home with the combo smoke and CO2 version - for the supposedly end of lifecycle. For the price it’s very reasonable just to do them all. I just unplugged the old and plugged these in. O need to change mount bracket as they were the same. They come with the batteries too. Took about a minute per detector to switch them all out. Everyone changes batteries in the fall or spring when changing the time - I do it between thanksgiving and Christmas because that’s when most fires occur.

Very good product. Installed and works great - very loud which is just what I was looking for. Just came through a house fire which started in the garage. This is great for the house but we are still looking for a fire alarm that can be installed in the garage and which has monitors for inside the house. Any ideas?

Ordered 8 of these for my house andIve been very happywith them .Great product!!

Delivered on time. Excellent quality. Easy to install. Might consider a bit pricey, but the life of my family is priceless! I feel good knowing that this product is installed.

We just moved into a newly built home that has the required hardwired smoke detectors throughout. Of course the builder just used a contractors pack of ionization alarms, including one just 10 ft from our kitchen. Two months in, and the alarm has gone off every time we open the oven. No visible smoke. Just heat and cooking vapours. That clearly wouldn’t do so we got this photoelectric alarm instead. It works great. No more false alarms from the oven. It clipped right in to the wiring from our BRK alarm, though I did have to loosen the two screws and switch the bracket. 5 minutes work. The fact that it is also a CO detector is just an added bonus. I only removed a star because I feel it could be priced better.

Arrived in good time and in good condition. Easy to install and works well.