Hard Wire Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector

[atchudy]

My house has about 12 hard wired smoke detectors. I just completed a inspection, where I am now required to add in four carbon monoxide detectors. Instead of doubling up the devices at some locations, can I just replace the smoke with the carbon/smoke units?

Will this cause any issues with the wiring?

Can anyone recommend any affordable options?

[deucestudios]

Yep.
It should be a 3 wire system + ground.
If it's newer construction, it'll be a black/white/red.
Black is hot, white is neutral, red is the signal between them.

First thing I would look for is the same brand as your smokes, they may be plug & play...

[atchudy]

It is 2 year old construction,and is white/black/red

[deucestudios]

It is 2 year old construction,and is white/black/red

Just make sure you turn of the breaker before doing any work on that circuit.

[barry2952]

I have 11 in my house, but I would not replace a smoke detector with a carbon monoxide detector as they have different functions.

Since Carbon Monoxide mixes evenly in the air, unlike smoke, you can use plug-in models or tap into an un-switched outlet. I believe you should keep your CO detectors so that they don't interconnect. That way you might be able to tell where the CO might be coming from.

I just replaced all of my smoke detectors. It's now recommended that you replace them all after 10 years. I replaced mine with a model that has a Lithium battery for back-up that should last 10 years. That's a hell of a lot better than trying to figure out which SD had the low battery.

[Shamrock]

I have 11 in my house, but I would not replace a smoke detector with a carbon monoxide detector as they have different functions.

Since Carbon Monoxide mixes evenly in the air, unlike smoke, you can use plug-in models or tap into an un-switched outlet. I believe you should keep your CO detectors so that they don't interconnect. That way you might be able to tell where the CO might be coming from.

I just replaced all of my smoke detectors. It's now recommended that you replace them all after 10 years. I replaced mine with a model that has a Lithium battery for back-up that should last 10 years. That's a hell of a lot better than trying to figure out which SD had the low battery.

get a decent one, and they have different tones for different things I think. I do know that CO's have a LED # on them so only one should have changed from 0

[Hostile]

I have 11 in my house, but I would not replace a smoke detector with a carbon monoxide detector as they have different functions.

Since Carbon Monoxide mixes evenly in the air, unlike smoke, you can use plug-in models or tap into an un-switched outlet. I believe you should keep your CO detectors so that they don't interconnect. That way you might be able to tell where the CO might be coming from.

I just replaced all of my smoke detectors. It's now recommended that you replace them all after 10 years. I replaced mine with a model that has a Lithium battery for back-up that should last 10 years. That's a hell of a lot better than trying to figure out which SD had the low battery.

We just replace the 9v batteries in our SDs once a year- my wife has it on her calendar. Ours are hard-wired btw.

[barry2952]

This thread reminded me to buy a plug-in CO detector today.

[AJB]

I have combo units in my house. They work great, they tell you why each is going off. They also blink to tell you which one triggered the alarm so you know which one to waste your time pressing the button to shut the damn things up.