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

[Roger]

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]

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

Post by Roger
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

[John A. Weeks III]

Post by Bennett Price
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-

[Berma]

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.

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[Silvanus]

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...

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[bmay]

replying to Berma, bmay wrote:
If they are hardwired to AC why did the batteries even come in the play

[Louis Desmarais]

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.

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for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/re-smoke-alarm-goes-off-when-it-s-cold-1126523-.htm

[DJHueneburg]

I so agree. If my house gets below 73F my alarms do the low battery chirp, and of course it’s in the middle of the night when you’re all snuggled in and sound asleep. The batteries are new so it’s not this. I blow my smoke detectors out cause I have furry dogs. I called my local fire depts (2!) and they both said they have never heard of this. But, come to my house around 3am when it gets to 68 degrees and listen to my smoke detectors chirp with fresh batteries in them. Bas___ds!!!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Post by DJHueneburg
I so agree. If my house gets below 73F my alarms do the low battery
chirp, and of course it’s in the middle of the night when you’re all
snuggled in and sound asleep. The batteries are new so it’s not this. I
blow my smoke detectors out cause I have furry dogs. I called my local
fire depts (2!) and they both said they have never heard of this. But,
come to my house around 3am when it gets to 68 degrees and listen to my
smoke detectors chirp with fresh batteries in them. Bas___ds!!!

Given the price of smoke detectors, I have a simple solution. If one
goes off, they all go off but if you cannot narrow it down, you know
what to do.

[Dj Hueneburg]

Yup, i bought all new ones, these are going in the trash. We had a temp change and the one with a brand new 10 year date alkaline is the one that’s doing the low battery chirp. The bedroom is the other with a 2 mo old brand new, name brand alkaline. Im done.

[Wade Garrett]

Post by Dj Hueneburg
Yup, i bought all new ones, these are going in the trash. We had a temp
change and the one with a brand new 10 year date alkaline is the one
that’s doing the low battery chirp. The bedroom is the other with a 2 mo
old brand new, name brand alkaline. Im done.

I've been especially disappointed with the Kidde 10 year smoke
detectors. Best one I had lasted about 6 years, worst was 9 months. They
start going off for no reason.

Before Carrier acquired Kidde, a call or email to customer service got
you a new one via FedEx in short order. Way, way back, they asked you to
put their return label on the old one so their Quality Control could see
what the problem was.

Last few years, they no longer ask for return of the old one. My theory
on that is that they know the alarms are crap.

Since Carrier bought Kidde, it takes multiple requests until they get
around to sending a new one- usually months later while you are without
a smoke alarm on that level of your house.

I've started replacing the Kidde ones with First Alert brand. Hopefully,
they're better...

[Bob F]

Post by DJHueneburg
I so agree. If my house gets below 73F my alarms do the low battery
chirp, and of course it’s in the middle of the night when you’re all
snuggled in and sound asleep. The batteries are new so it’s not this. I
blow my smoke detectors out cause I have furry dogs. I called my local
fire depts (2!) and they both said they have never heard of this. But,
come to my house around 3am when it gets to 68 degrees and listen to my
smoke detectors chirp with fresh batteries in them. Bas___ds!!!

And what did the manufacturer say when you contacted them about it?

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 19 Nov 2021 17:48:22 -0800, Bob F

Post by Bob F

Post by DJHueneburg
I so agree. If my house gets below 73F my alarms do the low battery
chirp, and of course it’s in the middle of the night when you’re all
snuggled in and sound asleep. The batteries are new so it’s not this. I
blow my smoke detectors out cause I have furry dogs. I called my local
fire depts (2!) and they both said they have never heard of this. But,
come to my house around 3am when it gets to 68 degrees and listen to my
smoke detectors chirp with fresh batteries in them. Bas___ds!!!

And what did the manufacturer say when you contacted them about it?

Good point. I just told, further down, a story about one neighbor. but
25 years ago there was another neibhgor, whose smoke alarm kept beeping.
He said that he took it to be repaired (although I don't know who
repaired them, then or now.) and while it was out, he had a fire.

It turned out something was smouldering**, maybe a cigarette in a sofa?,
and finally caught fire.

Beeping and chirping are not the same, but maybe the OP should get a
totally separtate smoke alarm and see what it has to say. While he
still has the chirping one.

[Joseph Meehan]

Post by Roger
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.

[SQLit]

Post by Roger
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.

[m***@UNLISTED.com]

Post by Roger
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

Your smoke detectors are very badly confused and require psychiatric
help. :)

Actually, the batteries are probably weak, and cold batteries deliver
less power. Replace the batts.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Post by Roger
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

[mm]

Post by Roger
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.

Post by Roger
Thanks,
Rog

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

[mg]

Post by Roger
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

could have more to do with closing of your windows and a dirty oven.
try switching to photo electric.

[Dan Deckert]

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

Post by Roger
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]

Post by Roger
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.

[Arlene]

replying to PipeDown, Arlene wrote:
Do you think a humidifier could do this, oR a very cold attic?

[No]

Dust - try and vacum them out.

[Dennis]

Moisture condensing.

Post by Roger
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]

Post by Roger
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]

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.

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