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-   -   Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?) (https://www.diybanter.com/home-repair/129062-smoke-alarm-goes-off-when-its-cold.html)

Roger November 12th 05 05:50 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog

Bennett Price November 12th 05 06:26 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Suspect marginally dead batteries. Try putting in a new alkaline
battery (presumably 9V) and see what happens.

Roger wrote:
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


Jim Yanik November 12th 05 07:23 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Bennett Price wrote in
. com:

Suspect marginally dead batteries. Try putting in a new alkaline
battery (presumably 9V) and see what happens.

Roger wrote:
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the
winter with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the
problem of the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only
happens in the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog



Put a 9V lithium battery in;they are much less affected by cold temps,and
their life is WAY longer.For something important like a smoke detector,the
extra cost would be trivial.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Joseph Meehan November 12th 05 08:31 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Roger wrote:
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the
winter with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the
problem of the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only
happens in the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


As indicated batteries are a good suspect. You also may want to check
the specs to see what the operating temperature range is.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit



SQLit November 12th 05 08:50 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 

"Roger" wrote in message
...
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


"during the winter with space heaters. "

If it aint the batteries like others have said, time to look at the vapors
the space heaters are emitting.



Jeff Wisnia November 12th 05 11:23 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Roger wrote:

Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


If Batteries don't solve the problem consider this:

I've found that insects which come indoors when it starts to get cold
(like Box eEder beetles and Ladybugs) can crawl into some smoke
detectors and set them off.

A few shots of RAID around the outside of the smoke detectors usually
gets rid of them for quite a while.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

mm November 12th 05 11:43 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:50:17 -0500, Roger wrote:

Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?


The new battery advice is good.

You don't say if the alarms go off in the rooms where and when the
space heaters are on, or where they are off, or where there aren't
any.

Or what kinds of space heater you use.

I have wire coil space heaters that are at least as old as 1947. They
work fine. But I can imagine that if dust from the summer, or any
other dust, landed on the coil, as some of it must, it could be heated
to the burning point, maybe, when the heater was on.

If this we were a common problem, I think it would say so in the smoke
alarm instructions, but maybve your heaters are especially dusty or
dirty, maybe because they haven't been used for a long time.

Thanks,
Rog



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

Dan Deckert November 13th 05 03:36 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
How about it gets to cold and the detectors go thru metal contraction and
cause direct short to contacts?
Thereby setting off the detectors?

Dan


"Roger" wrote in message
...
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog




PipeDown November 15th 05 01:17 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 

"Roger" wrote in message
...
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


Usually a low battery makes it blip once in a while not false alarm, it
could be a battery but it shouldn't be.

I get false alarms on cool mornings when the shower is used (30 ft away in
MBR with bathroom door closed). Seems the detector cools to room temp
overnight which is typically cool and the steam makes its way (not much
either as it is not noticeable) to the photoelectric detector and condenses
where it sets off the alarm. I either need to pull out the battery or hold
it over an electric space heater to warm it up to make it stop (pressing the
button only works for a minute).

My detector is only a few months old and has 3 way detector (ionization,
photoelectric and CO) which is supposed to cut down on false alarms but it
does not.

Is there a source of water vapor near the detector like a coffee maker,
unvented gas space heater (!) or do you have steam radiators and the
thermostat turns them on just before the false alarm.

If you think it might be this, use a detector with an ionization detector
instead of photoelectric.

Also, smoke detectors have a 5-10 year life. Yours might just be too old.



No November 15th 05 03:58 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Dust - try and vacum them out.


John A. Weeks III November 16th 05 04:38 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
In article ,
Bennett Price wrote:

Suspect marginally dead batteries. Try putting in a new alkaline
battery (presumably 9V) and see what happens.


I 2nd that advice. Batteries get weaker as they get colder.
Your batteries might be on the margin, and when they get colder,
they get right on the line where the detector sends a low battery
warning once in a while.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications
http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

Dennis November 16th 05 11:55 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
Moisture condensing.

"Roger" wrote in message
...
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?




The Real Tom November 17th 05 03:31 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:50:17 -0500, Roger wrote:

Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog



This what I was TOLD to prevent such a problem you are having.

If you have ionizing types:
1. Check batteries. Voltage drops with temperature.
2. Check age on smoke detectors(as they get older they ionize less
and less, so the sensing chamber drops faster with any type of
dust/smoke/humidity). NFPA recommends replace every 10 years, but I
was told replace at end of warranty period(some 5 years) under harsh
conditions, since the company only guarantees it's function in the
warranty period.
3. Check for improper installation, if they are in colder rooms the
air gets denser than the smoke detectors were 'designed' for. Meaning
air at normal room temperature(68-75F) is less dense than air at 40F.
Dense air can appear like less-dense air with smoke in it. So this
creates for a false alarms.

Solutions I was given.....change over to photo-electric if I want to
use a POC (Products of Combustion) detector, or change over to a heat
based detector(fixed/rate of rise, depending on your installation
needs).

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not disable your current detectors, till you are
ready to install replacements. Better to have an over sensitive
detector than none.

I highly recommend you contact your fire company, they usually do a
free fire safety audit, and might have someone on staff(or could
recommend one) that is qualified to help you plan out your home's fire
alarms.

hth,

tom @ www.FindMeShelter.com

katykat December 14th 16 04:14 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to The Real Tom, katykat wrote:
I had the fire chief in my town tell me it's because the room is warm and
above the smoke detector is cold. My detectors are hard wired to the ceiling.
He told me to unscrew them and let them hang when it's cold outside. I found
if I run my ceiling fan on low this also helps.

--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...old-49577-.htm



[email protected] December 14th 16 05:39 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 10:50:17 AM UTC-6, Roger wrote:
Hi all, I like to heat only the rooms we spend time in during the winter
with space heaters. Now that it's getting colder I have the problem of
the household smoke detecters going off at night. It only happens in
the colder months. Anyone know why this is?

Thanks,
Rog


This post is 11 years old. Either the OP has been burned or the batteries are really finally dead.

Berma March 12th 17 01:44 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to Bennett Price, Berma wrote:
I'm an electronics engineer, and have over the past year purchased several
Kidde Model i9040 ionization smoke detectors. I was annoyed to find almost
all of them, at one time or another, with fresh batteries, sound false
"Low-Battery" alarms in middle of cold nights. I verified that the batteries
are good, even when alarm is sounding, I can consistently measure more than 9
volts in every case - so it's not weak batteries, unless it maintains voltage
but not enough current? There is no moisture issue, in fact winter nights
here are cool. Inside temp that seems to be around 45-55F. What annoys me is
this is not unusual for many parts of my home on coldest nights. I've used
many brands of ionization detectors and never had this issue. Kidde needs to
solve this, as it could result in death or injury when we have to disable one
or more of them at night.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...old-49577-.htm



DerbyDad03 March 12th 17 02:14 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Saturday, March 11, 2017 at 7:44:05 PM UTC-5, Berma wrote:
replying to Bennett Price, Berma wrote:
I'm an electronics engineer, and have over the past year purchased several
Kidde Model i9040 ionization smoke detectors. I was annoyed to find almost
all of them, at one time or another, with fresh batteries, sound false
"Low-Battery" alarms in middle of cold nights. I verified that the batteries
are good, even when alarm is sounding, I can consistently measure more than 9
volts in every case - so it's not weak batteries, unless it maintains voltage
but not enough current? There is no moisture issue, in fact winter nights
here are cool. Inside temp that seems to be around 45-55F. What annoys me is
this is not unusual for many parts of my home on coldest nights. I've used
many brands of ionization detectors and never had this issue. Kidde needs to
solve this, as it could result in death or injury when we have to disable one
or more of them at night.


I've been trading emails with Kidde Customer Service over this past week. My
Combination Smoke CO alarm started chirping once every 60 seconds which is
supposed to be a low battery alarm but it's also supposed to be followed by the
"Low Battery" voice announcement. Mine didn't say a word. I tested the batteries
and they were fine. When I put them back in, the chirping stopped and hasn't
come back. That concerns me since the single chirp with no voice is not on the
table of indications for that unit.

Kidde said that it sounds like it's a battery problem and wanted to know what brand
I was using and what was the "sell by date".

Im waiting to hear what they'll say now that I told them that they are the 10 year
KIdde branded batteries that came with the unit when I bought if from their website
in 2015. If it really is a battery problem, then it's *their* problem. If it's not a battery
problem then it's still their problem because the unit must be defective.


Silvanus February 27th 18 09:14 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to Berma, Silvanus wrote:
Thank you! We have an array of Kidde smoke detectors and since the
temperature dropped here they are going off at five in the morning for no
apparent reason. No moisture - except from two people breathing on the other
side of a door. No insects coordinating their activity to that hour. No
appliances on in the house. I think it is just one that is misbehaving and
setting off the others. I may swop them around to see what happens...

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...d-1126523-.htm



bmay December 11th 18 12:44 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to Berma, bmay wrote:
If they are hardwired to AC why did the batteries even come in the play

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...d-1126523-.htm



Ed Pawlowski December 11th 18 02:47 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On 12/10/2018 6:44 PM, bmay wrote:
replying to Berma, bmay wrote:
If they are hardwired to AC why did the batteries even come in the play

Because the batteries are there for backup in a power outage. They
notify you when week even if hard wired. Would you want to wait until a
power outage in a blizzard to find you need batteries?

Louis Desmarais December 15th 18 04:44 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to Berma, Louis Desmarais wrote:
The solution is to heat your house to at least 60 F. Batteries do not work as
well in cold temperatures thus causing the low battery alarm or chirp.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...d-1126523-.htm



trader_4 December 15th 18 06:07 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Monday, December 10, 2018 at 8:47:17 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/10/2018 6:44 PM, bmay wrote:
replying to Berma, bmay wrote:
If they are hardwired to AC why did the batteries even come in the play

Because the batteries are there for backup in a power outage. They
notify you when week even if hard wired. Would you want to wait until a
power outage in a blizzard to find you need batteries?


What I can't figure out is why in some of them with both AC and batteries,
the batteries last a year or less? You would think those batteries
would last about their shelf life. A friend's house, new construction,
has that problem. They chirp and there are so many that it's hard
to figure out which one it even is. There are a bunch of them and in
all, the batteries last maybe a year. I was wondering if instead of them
being really low, there is some clock in there that forces you to replace
them every year? Makes no sense to me.


trader_4 December 15th 18 06:08 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 10:44:05 AM UTC-5, Louis Desmarais wrote:
replying to Berma, Louis Desmarais wrote:
The solution is to heat your house to at least 60 F. Batteries do not work as
well in cold temperatures thus causing the low battery alarm or chirp.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...d-1126523-.htm


I agree, that's the phenomena, batteries will have a lower voltage when
cold. But it's telling you the battery is at the end of it's life and
needs to be replaced.

Arlene February 1st 19 09:44 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
replying to PipeDown, Arlene wrote:
Do you think a humidifier could do this, oR a very cold attic?

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...old-49577-.htm



% February 1st 19 09:52 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On 2019-02-01 1:44 p.m., Arlene wrote:
replying to PipeDown, Arlene wrote:
Do you think a humidifier could do this, oR a very cold attic?


the rise in temperature can do it when the furnace comes on

trader_4 February 1st 19 11:50 PM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 
On Friday, February 1, 2019 at 3:53:01 PM UTC-5, % wrote:
On 2019-02-01 1:44 p.m., Arlene wrote:
replying to PipeDown, Arlene wrote:
Do you think a humidifier could do this, oR a very cold attic?


the rise in temperature can do it when the furnace comes on


I don't know how that's possible. All the home smoke detectors I've
seen use photo sensing or ionization to look for smoke and don't
respond to temperature changes. A humidifier shouldn't be tripping
it either, it just puts humidity in the air. However a cold attic
with missing insulation that results in a cold ceiling and a cold
smoke detector and a humidifier turned up too high could result in
moisture condensing inside the smoke detector. And water and electronics
don't mix well.


Rod Speed February 2nd 19 02:09 AM

Smoke alarm goes off when it's cold (?)
 


"trader_4" wrote in message
...
On Friday, February 1, 2019 at 3:53:01 PM UTC-5, % wrote:
On 2019-02-01 1:44 p.m., Arlene wrote:
replying to PipeDown, Arlene wrote:
Do you think a humidifier could do this, oR a very cold attic?


the rise in temperature can do it when the furnace comes on


I don't know how that's possible. All the home smoke detectors
I've seen use photo sensing or ionization to look for smoke and
don't respond to temperature changes.


Some do respond to temperature changes.

A humidifier shouldn't be tripping it
either, it just puts humidity in the air.


But badly designed ones can produce steam.

However a cold attic with missing insulation that results in
a cold ceiling and a cold smoke detector and a humidifier
turned up too high could result in moisture condensing
inside the smoke detector. And water and electronics
don't mix well.





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