I would be all over this if it was not hard wired. Never even knew nice looking versions were out there, I'm off to Amazon!

Unstylish smoke alarms? Definitely #firstworldproblem

@indy jeffrey
... yes, your point?

@indy jeffry

Please refer to:

http://gizmodo.com/5869538/how-the-hashtag-is-ruining-the-english-language

Unstylish anything is a first world problem... if you don't want to participate in discussions about the aesthetics of items in your home, why are you commenting on a home design blog?

Hard-wired = I can just stick it where the old alarms already are, right?

Hm... it's unfortunate it seems a little low-tech... it only detects smoke, and not carbon monoxide or other toxins, right?

I agree with Indy Jeffrey. Smoke alarms are designed to protect us from DYING in the event of a house fire. Do they really need to look pretty?

@Herms

This argument could be used for almost anything. A jacket is designed to protect you from cold. Shoes are designed to protect your feet. Your cell phone is designed to make calls. Just about everything you use on a daily basis has a utilitarian function and doesn't need to be attractive. But since we are using these things, looking at them, everyday, isn't it nicer if they are?

Yup every house has holes for hardwired smoke detectors since 1990.. the hole is the same fire safe box hole as a standard light.

That is a good point scs68.

While on the topic of hardwired smoke detectors, what's the truth about them. I've heard in the event of a power surge, the smoke alarms can trip and fail because they're connected to the home grid, rendering them useless.

Hardwired smoke detectors do not require battery changes. Since many people will take out the batteries from their smoke detectors (then forget to replace them), they are safer in this regard.

At the same time, hardwired smoke detectors are likely to fail given a power outage -- which is particularly problematic, as you might imagine a fire at your circuit breaker is also likely to kill the power. That said, I believe most hardwired smoke detectors include a back-up battery, so that, if the power goes off, the smoke detector will still operate. For this smoke alarm, in particular, note the following wording from Amazon's product description:

"The Kidde Silhouette Low-Profile Smoke Alarm features a rechargeable lithium battery sealed inside the unit that recharges automatically via central electricity. If there is a power outage, the battery will recharge once the electricity is restored."

This should keep you safe, even if there is a power outage.

As an aside, I wish I could say this post was timely, but I just bought 8 smoke detectors yesterday, so now I'm a sad fellow. That said, my home was built in 1933 -- so it's not set-up to handle a hardwired smoke detector anyway, and I'm reluctant to bring in (the cost of) an electrician. My own wiring capabilities is limited to updating switches and face plates.

Our hardwired smoke alarms have a battery back-up and those batteries most definitely require a change. Usually the beeping begins about midnight. We're not great about changing them twice a year but there are definitely batteries in there. I like the idea of the rechargeable battery as one of our smoke detectors is in our living room at the top of the 22 ft. ceiling.

But does it detect carbon monoxide?