The purpose of a smoke alarm is to alert you to a fire in your home. Thankfully I have never been able to test this unit, and I hope I never have the chance. So I'll just review the other reasons I bought this product.
I bought two of these units to replace older Kiddie model 1275 units that were malfunctioning and going off regularly for false alarms. My main concern was compatibility since I have 10 units in my house and did not want to replace them all. These new units used the same wiring, connectors, and mounting frames as the old units which was perfect -- installation took less than a minute per unit. The new units work with the old units perfectly -- pushing the test button on the new ones set off all the alarms in the house, just as they should.
I did have some hesitation about buying new Kiddie units since the old Kiddie units were malfunctioning. (To be fair, only one was malfunctioning, but I was tired of messing with troubleshooting and decided to replace the last two options.) However, only 1 in 10 of my existing units was malfunctioning, and they are 6 years old (out of a reported 10 year lifetime). The smoke alarms were installed when I bought the house, so I can't be sure the failing unit was not dropped or otherwise abused before installation. So far the new units have not produced any false alarms and are working well. Kidde i12040 120V AC Wire-In Smoke Alarm with Battery Backup and Smart Hush
I had a house full of Kidde 1275 smoke alarms, and after several malfunctions (including one electrical problem causing it to literally "go up in smoke"), I replaced them with the i12040 ... only because I wanted something that would "drop in" with the current mounting system and wiring. That they did, and I've had no false alarms in the month they've been installed.
Why the 2 stars? Previous to purchasing, I contacted Kidde (via their customer service web page) to ensure the i12040 units had the same mounting system as the old 1275's and to ensure the wiring would be compatible with all the Kidde alarms on the system. Kidde never responded. I found out from a do-it-yourself web forum that these would work fine.
Kidde's customer support is notoriously poor. The old 1275 units were deficient in design and/or manufacture - and Kidde refused to acknowledge this. I won't give high marks to a company that won't respond to customer service issues.
I needed to find a replacement for the older hard wired "Lifesaver"smoke detectors that were installed in my two 20 unit apartment buildings. It took me only 1 minute to punch out screw hole placement to existing set up. Rewired using the same set up and done. It works great and my tenants love the "Smart Hush" control to temporarily silence nuisance alarms. These will be my choice for all future replacements throughout each unit as needed.
I bought 7 of these as replacements for an older model that Kiddie no longer makes. Within 3 months of installation, I have had 3 false alarms (twice in the middle of the night). The false alarms came from 3 different rooms, so I have 3 defective units out of the 7 I installed.
Our home is very clean, we do not smoke, and the units that failed were in bedrooms (not the garage or kitchen). So, I can not see any reason for the false alarms.
I would not recommend this model, they are not reliable.
My house is about 10y and had the Kidde 1275's. Never had any issue with them, but it was that time to replace them as they are coming of age.
These used the same connectors, so all I did is change the mounting ring, since the others were discolored with age and plugged them in. No more than 5 min each. Had to change 8 of them out.
Kidde makes good products that are reliable!
I too had 8ea of the 1275's (approx. 8 years old), one of which nearly caught on fire! The inside circuit board is burned BLACK from overheating and popping a resistor. It actually got so hot it melted the white buzzer wire to the circuit board and discolored the top of the white housing! I emailed Kidde and got a stonewall of "that is supposed to happen (the crispy burned circuit board)", "its out of warranty", "it was a power spike", "its near the end of it useful life", etc. When I confronted them with the fact that if the unit had encountered a power spike, why are the rest of them okay and it didnt affect anything else in the house....at that point they simply stopped returning my emails. I am shopping for a different system to replace the Kidde CRAP, even if it means rewiring the house for a competitors system! I am turning the detector over to the Consumer Product Safety Commission for further evaluation. Buyer Beware!
I am writing this to say 1 thing about these....DON'T BUY THESE, DON'T LET YOUR CONTRACTOR INSTALL THESE, AND BE READY TO WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IF YOU GET THESE!!
I have had these in my house since 2007 when I was required by law due to an addition I was building to have hardwired smokes put in the house. The contractor followed the law and installed this unit!! They have been replace once already and same issue... if there is any and I mean any dust, a spider or a small power surge or the wind blows the wrong way these units go off. It is 2:17 am and once again they have gone off and waken up my whole family and scared my dog into her crate that she never goes in.
They have had batteries replaced every 6 months, they have been dusted, cleaned in ever way I know how and still they go off, and one when goes they all go. These as of now have been all pulled down batteries yanked and I will be replacing them in the morning myself with some other unit... which I have no idea.
Just because someone says hey look they are easy to install doesn't mean anything just wait these are a nightmare. - Smoke Detector - Ionization - Smoke Alarms - Kidde'
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