10 Year Battery Smoke Alarms

What is the deal with 10-year battery smoke alarms?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to not have to listen to smoke alarms chirp every year or two when their batteries get low? It seems like 10-year battery alarms are the answer to this age-old problem. But are they?

The answer to the above question gets complicated. First, let's discuss why 10-year battery smoke alarms were invented and why more and more jurisdictions are requiring them.

Several states, counties, and cities now require 10-year battery smoke alarms for smoke alarms that are only battery powered.  These alarms are available from most manufacturers and are available everywhere. This is because the majority of deaths from house fires occur in homes with no working smoke alarms. The leading cause for smoke alarms to be disabled by a homeowner is because of chirping caused by low batteries. So, if we solve the low battery problem, we can hopefully decrease the amount of disabled smoke alarms.

Should you buy 10-year battery smoke alarms?

If you only have battery powered smoke alarms, you should definitely buy 10-year battery alarms, but see the caveats listed below. 

If you have smoke alarms that are hard-wired to 120 volts, the answer is slightly more complicated, at least for now. Manufacturers have been slow to produce premium, 10-year battery hard-wired alarms. Some jurisdictions, such as Phoenix, Arizona near us, requires homeowners, when replacing battery only powered smoke alarms, to replace them with models with a 10-year battery. Check with your local fire department if you are unclear about your local laws.

Caveats of 10-year battery smoke alarms

There is at least one downside to 10-year battery alarms, and it might surprise you. 10-year battery alarms typically don't last 10 years. Most manufacturers state that you should expect 8-9 years of battery life from a 10-year battery alarm. Since most of the 10-year alarms don't have replaceable batteries, you will need to replace your alarm when it starts signaling that the battery is low.

Since 10-year alarms have only been available and in use for about 8-10 years, it's hard to say how problematic this will be. Since the batteries aren't replaceable, when an alarm does start giving a low battery warning, you have no choice but to replace the entire alarm. Our concern over this is that replacing an alarm is more difficult than replacing a battery, and homeowners may revert to disabling the alarm rather than replacing it. 

Only time will tell how successful 10-year battery smoke alarms turn out to be. We remain hopeful that they will end up safer than replaceable battery alarms and look forward to major manufacturers producing dual sensor, 10-year battery, hard-wired alarms in the near future.

Last updated: 1/29/2025