Kidde10SCO Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Voice Notification

A good fire and CO2 alarm to replace our existing alarm. Easy to fit and working within minutes. Not to large fitted existing site.

Bought to replace oneEasy to fit and works good

I had the old model previously which uses a 9v size battery, and so I was pleased to see the latest model use AA size battery, which are more commonly available.The installation is simple and straightforward.The looks of the product is the similar to its predecessor. The appearance is smart.Good value for money and if it says what it does it should last 10 years.It would be nice if there was an option to choose the voice for announcements.

My old Kidde combi alarm had reached its end-of-life and I was interested to see they had discontinued that for this newer model. I've had a few of the older ones and none have ever given me a problem.I was wary of the number of reviews that spoke of false alarms, but eventually decided it was worth a try. I bought two. One of them did give a completely unprovoked false alarm a week after it was installed, but otherwise they have been ok. (It has been nearly 4 months since purchase, I will update this review if problems occur.)This model has a front-loading 9V battery rather than the old rear-loading 3xAA. I can see the benefit in ease of battery change but, for something you do once per year at most, does it really matter? The 9V battery is typically shorter life and more expensive, and the door is rather ugly.On the other hand this has a lifetime of 10 years instead of the 7 of the old one, so that's nice.For anyone else in a similar position to myself, you might like to know the wall/ceiling mount is compatible with the previous model. I just kept the old mount in place.It's just worth pointing out that people seem to get a little over-obsessed with smoke alarm sensitivity and performance They are invaluable as a device to potentially save your life in the event of a fire while you're asleep, but they do not of themselves prevent fires or guarantee your safety! By far the best way to not die in a fire is to not set fire to your house in the first place! The number of times I've seen people get a false sense of security by using them as a "safety net" for doing stupid things that they know might cause a fire is unbelievable. <Rant over!>

I ordered this detector as a replacement for the same previous model I fitted approximately 10 years ago, I assume it has a time sensitive chip because the first unit lasted just two weeks away from the10 year date. Can’t fault that length of service.

Excellent value. Easy to install.

We have had this make serval times one up stairs one in the bottom passage one in the front room it is a very good alarm when we had our drive done it told us about the carbon so we made sure the door was closed while the job got done it as told when there is smoke if my daughter for gets the fan so we definitely will be always replacing with new ones from this make

I bought a few of these as we just had pellet stoves installed in our home. I did some research on which ones have good sensors and which brands are reliable... etc, and this make and model came up over and over, so I went with it. I'm very safety conscious so when they arrived I wasn't going to just press the test button and assume they work fine, as I'm relying on these things to save the lives of my family and me. So, I put them to the test.Smoke: I stuck them with double-sided tape temporarily on the ceiling while I tested them. Firstly I tried cigarettes, well a cigar actually. My partner and I don't smoke, but I enjoy a once a year cheeky cigar at Christmas. General normal smoking won't set them off unless you're blowing the smoke directly into the detector or maybe if you have a party and lots of people are smoking.Blowing out a single candle is not enough to set them off which is great, but 3 or more candles being blown out will.Over-cooking toast or any food, heating oil in a frying pan... etc will set them off if they're within 20m. I've purposely repeated these tests multiple times and in different rooms to make 100% sure they're working fine and placed correctly.Carbon Monoxide: I tested them by starting my car in the garage and leaving it running for a little while, I also tested them by starting my generator in my shed/workshop. I placed the detectors on a top shelf 30-40cm from the ceiling. CO detectors are not designed to sound an alarm immediately upon detecting any CO, as a small amount is perfectly safe, they check the levels of CO and if they increase continuously over a short time, then they sound an alarm as this would mean you have a leak somewhere, or they will sound the alarm if levels suddenly spike above a dangerous level if you had a sudden and large leak.So, with a modern catalytic car running in a large double garage the alarms all sounded after roughly 6-7 minutes and they all went off within 30 seconds of each other. I stood in the garage once they had sounded the alarm and after 2 or 3 minutes I could feel a very slight tingly feeling over most of my body, so I would judge that levels of CO in there were high enough that you would start to feel bad after 10-20 minutes but not danger to life levels.So in conclusion, they're sensitive but too sensitive, which is exactly what you want. The alarm is a siren and voice alert, the sirens are different for smoke and CO making it easy to distinguish and extremely loud (no way any normal person could sleep through them), and the voice alert is clear, precise and adds some urgency in my opinion. Hearing a typical smoke alarm siren going off can sometimes, if set off regularly, be brushed off or not given full attention, but hearing a siren and then a human voice shouting: "EMERGENCY! Smoke (or Carbon Monoxide) detected, evacuate... evacuate!" really makes you sit up and pay attention.TL;DR - I tested them multiple times both with smoke and CO, they work perfectly. We now feel much safer in our home. 5/5 would recommend.