First Alert SCO7CN vs Kidde PI2010

A low battery warning does not need to be full volumn and it does not need to sound like a smoke or CO warning! When the alarm is blasting one naturally assumes leaving the area is the best course. So battery warning drives one from the building? Inappropriate design. BTW Batteries do not always last a year even when installed fresh so expect randomly timed adrenaline rushes, Random alarms seem the nature of all the smoke alarms I've ever lived with and this unit does occasionally blast one out. Bought and installed five of these and never could set the location so that is a wasted feature

I like the dual smoke detection a lot. What I don't like is the battery placement. A previous Kidde single detection SA unit had an external door that when pressed would pop-open, and the 9v battery would easily slide out/in. This was great for vaulted ceiling requiring a tall ladder to reach; now battery access in this unit is risky with vaulted/difficult ceilings

These are fine, they do the job. However, when you put the battery in it goes through a setup where you can pick the room that it’ll be installed (so the alarm will say “there’s smoke in the living room”). Anyways, the setup volume is full blast alarm loudness. Why does the setup menu have to be so loud?! Even with ear plugs in, it’s still too loud

Maybe someone else can reply. The instructions for the Kill-a-watt meter say that Watts are for Active Power, whereas the VA reading "is the apparent Power. (VA=Vrms Arms)". I will note that smoke detectors are in an interesting category of device for which 100% of the objective reviews are NOT based on the object's primary purpose

You can also set up a "location" for the voice command alerts, so it'll bark at you about what location you pick, if any, if there's an alert. Most important, I'm hoping that this newer unit REALLY knows the difference between CO2 and steam from the kids bathroom just a few feet down the hall..

I'm assuming these all work, and according to Consumer Reports these are well rated, so my review is focused on the installation. First issue, the battery cover is on the back / mounting side of the unit. That means you can't just open a cover like my old units had. Second, getting the unit to attach to the mount is a real pain

I found a review on Android Central that claimed this alarm connects to the wifi and sends you email alerts. I should have read more closely when I ordered it, because the information on the product on Amazon says nothing of the kind. I should have known that the price was too good for a unit that supposedly connects to the wifi. They seem good quality for what they are

They are expensive and are not durable. Factor that in into a decision to go with this expensive brand. In July of 2015, I bought these along with others (same brand and type) from a big box store, to replace all of the alarms in my house. Due to work being done in my house, I did not install them until Feb