ItsAaronnnn wrote:So how do they work when the fire burns the wiring leading to your home before it gets inside the home?

Well, since the product name says "self-CHARGING," I think it is safe to assume that there is some kind of power source inside that is CHARGING so that if the power goes out, it can use the CHARGED power source to warn you of the fire.

I bought 2 of these at Big Lots last year for $5 each. I have one in the garage and one in my basement. They work great. We only keep our garage light on for short periods of time and that's enough to keep the battery going.

Hate to tell you all this but our local Big Lots has these for about the same price for 3 once you add in the $5 shipping from Woot.

Big Lots has these for $5.00 each so there's no reason to order them unless there's no store near you.

Things to remember

most states now require you to have networked smoke alarms. This means if one trips they all go off. Also they now if being installed have to have both types of sensors both the infrared and ionization sensors.

These maybe be a good deal but check building laws and rules before buying and installing any smoke alarm.

My friend David says he's in for all of them.

stevec5000 wrote:Big Lots has these for $5.00 each so there's no reason to order them unless there's no store near you.

Woot may be slightly cheaper, due to local taxes in Big Lots stores.
But somebody's gotta pay taxes, else the banks would go broke.

terraguy wrote:Anyone know how long it takes to charge the battery in one of these things?

Taken from DuPont faq page:

How does the self-charging feature work?
The DuPont™ Self-Charging Smoke Alarm has an internal self-charging power pack that is recharged electrically. In order to keep your DuPont™ Self-Charging Smoke Alarm fully charged it requires the light socket it is installed in be switched on for at least 2 hours total per week.

Wait, will these things stay on even after I turn the lights off??

joementhol wrote:My friend David says he's in for all of them.

ROFL!

MaureenJ8 wrote:These actually sound like a great idea, but is anyone familiar with how sensitive they are? I had to get rid of my last smoke detector because it went off every time I opened my oven (even with the fan on).

I had the same problem when I was married. This seemed to clear up when the ex was no longer present, trying to cook. I don't think it was a sensitivity issue...with the smoke alarms I mean.

ItsAaronnnn wrote:So how do they work when the fire burns the wiring leading to your home before it gets inside the home?

How would a fire burn the wires leading to your home before it gets inside? If the fire is big enough to burn everything around your house and you're still inside, these ain't gonna save your behind anyway.

MonkRX wrote:If the rechargeable batteries die (don't take a charge) ... Are the rechargeable batteries replaceable?

bought 2 sets, hope the shelf life will oulast the used batteries.

So will this be set off by carbon monoxide? Or is it just a regular smoke alarm?

"Not to be used in table lamps, floor standing lamps or ceiling fans"

Uh, that pretty much cuts out every light source I have!

Like someone mentioned, who has bare lights anymore?

Might work in my garage but I doubt I'd hear it.

In for the set of three.....WOOT!

ItsAaronnnn wrote:So how do they work when the fire burns the wiring leading to your home before it gets inside the home?

Can you say battery? Better yet, do you know what a battery is?

geo8rge wrote:Possible solution: Put in an electical box next to an existing light fixture, and mount a smoke detector that works off the house wiring.

Not unless you have CONSTANT power at the light, which you may or may not.

compassstl wrote:Unless it were in one's attic and the attic had no barriers between it and the rest of the house... and the airflow from the fire would lead directly to said attic...


What would happen if you screwed all 3 of these (in the set) into each other? Would they be louder (or rather, based on some scientific law - Ohm's maybe? - the one at the bottom of the set would be quieter since less electricity getting to it) or just more alarming?
I wonder if there's a way to tweak the frequency/pitch/sound of the alarms so they sound different in different areas of the house or for different owners... High pitches aren't as alarming to me, and my dad can't even hear some of them, whereas my mom goes ballistic at anything 2 octaves above middle C""

Come on people. THINK! These use 120 volts. They use power in parallel with the light. There is the same amount of electricity going to each one.

quartermane wrote:looking at the picture the contacts for the screw in bulb are not continuous. I would guess it can only charge if the current flows through the bulb. A burned out bulb would interrupt the charging circuit. If the battery were charged, it should function but not recharge until the burned out bulb was replaced

How can you people be so stupid? These are NOT in series with the bulb, they are in parallel. A burned out bulb is irrelevant. You can use these with no bulb if you want.

This actually seems really useful - I'm in for one. I'll put one in my basement & give one each to my brother & my parents. Woot, indeed!

Tarnishedblade wrote:Things to remember

most states now require you to have networked smoke alarms. This means if one trips they all go off. Also they now if being installed have to have both types of sensors both the infrared and ionization sensors.

These maybe be a good deal but check building laws and rules before buying and installing any smoke alarm.

Interconnected smoke alarm laws only apply to NEW construction. You can buy and install any kind of alarm in existing construction. However, you should buy (for safety reasons) wireless interconnected alarms.

seneca ripple wrote:bought 2 sets, hope the shelf life will oulast the used batteries.

Bad idea. Smoke alarms should only be bought when needed, and from a store that turns over inventory quickly.

kilomag2 wrote:You cant take the battery out, but there is a series of light off/on sequences that you can perform to temporarily disable the device for about 15 minutes. And a series of off/on's for testing the device as well.
There are no led indicators on the device to acknowledge a full charge or no charge, or dead battery for that matter.

I can imagine it now, the first time my 2 year old discovers his random light switching actually does something. Lets play "see how many times I can get this thing to screech".

As many people have already pointed out, these have very limited use due to location parameters. The idea is to protect your living space , but these have no place in a living area. A garage? Well, I do a lot of work in the garage and smoke is not an unusual thing to have floating around in the air. Basement? If you're like me I cut a lot of wood in the basement and very often my blades get dull and I'll "burn" thru that last cut and smoke the area. Or soldering may cause a lot of smoke on occasion.

They look like a cool idea but in about a years time they will cluttering garage sale tables all over the place!

Bottom line...not useless but nearly so!

wootasourous wrote:So will this be set off by carbon monoxide? Or is it just a regular smoke alarm?

Does it say carbon monoxide detector in any of the information listed? Does it say carbon monoxide in any of the FAQs or on any of the associated links?

Since NONE of the documentation talks about carbon monoxide detection, I'll go out on a limb and say that these don't detect carbon monoxide. But why don't you email or call the manufacturer just to be sure. You never know, they may have forgotten to list it.

If these offered carbon monoxide protection, the literature would say so.

Frustrating isn't it?

racraft wrote:Does it say carbon monoxide detector in any of the information listed? Does it say carbon monoxide in any of the FAQs or on any of the associated links?

Since NONE of the documentation talks about carbon monoxide detection, I'll go out on a limb and say that these don't detect carbon monoxide. But why don't you email or call the manufacturer just to be sure. You never know, they may have forgotten to list it.

If these offered carbon monoxide protection, the literature would say so.

I was thinking this would be good for the basement, but the light socket it is in needs to be turned on 2 hours per week according to Dupont http://www2.dupont.com/Home_Safety/en_US/applications/faqs/faqs_pages/faqs_sc101.html
I'm not going to add another chore to make sure I do this. And if you forget...everyone dies??
For the rest of the house, I have light fixtures that this wouldn't fit into.

This wasn't a smart idea by Dupont to sell. The thought is neat, but in reality, what are they trying to replace? I change the batteries in my current smoke alarms twice a year. This is actually less convenient. I don't see how Dupont was going to steal any market share on this product.

...As for one advantage found in their manufacturer's web page. BTW not rec'd for w/ CFLs, comp flor. light bulbs!

My garage/basement/laundry area is kept at a low temperature-- will the DuPont™ Self-Charging Smoke Alarm still work?
The DuPont™ Self-Charging Smoke Alarm has UL certification for use in areas where temperature may regularly drop to 5°F unlike most smoke alarms which are normally tested and are specified to work at temperatures above 40°F.

robio wrote:FYI from the manual:

Your DuPont TM Smoke Alarm PS-131 is only intended for use with conventional light bulbs up to a maximum rating of 60 watts, and low energy type bulbs with a similar rating.

quartermane wrote:looking at the picture the contacts for the screw in bulb are not continuous. I would guess it can only charge if the current flows through the bulb. A burned out bulb would interrupt the charging circuit. If the battery were charged, it should function but not recharge until the burned out bulb was replaced

No, that would only be the case if it was wired in series. And if it was wired in series, the bulb would burn at half brightness, as it would be operating on 60 volts (1/2 of 120 volts). These would have to be wired in parallel, therefore, even with the bulb burned out, the unit would charge if the switch was on.

How old are these already? Can anyone from Woot! tell us the manufacture date on the packages? The warranty is for 10 yr and 6 mo from date of manufacture. If these are 6 or 7 years old, for example, it would not be worth getting.

langbdang wrote:No, that would only be the case if it was wired in series. And if it was wired in series, the bulb would burn at half brightness, as it would be operating on 60 volts (1/2 of 120 volts). These would have to be wired in parallel, therefore, even with the bulb burned out, the unit would charge if the switch was on.

Right church, wrong pew.

Wired in series they would each get voltage based on their electrical resistance. The smoke detector and the light bulb do not have the same electrical requirements, therefor they would not get the same voltage if wired in series. One would get a higher voltage, the other a lower voltage.

Bonus questions:
Which would see a higher voltage voltage? What would happen with a lower wattage bulb?

Boy; what a lot of whining "I can't use this Woot!" C'mon people! If you could use 'em all, you'd be broke!

Seriously, though, these are perfect for a laundry room, utility room, or attached (or drive-under) garage. When I lived in an apartment, I had a storage closet off the balcony. Now, I have a laundry/utility room with a Carbon Monoxide (but not smoke) detector; I think I'm inspired now to get one of these at Big Lots.

And, seriously, make sure ANY smoke detector is very close to the ceiling, or it may not go off until you're already dead. And that would be bad.

racraft wrote:Does it say carbon monoxide detector in any of the information listed? Does it say carbon monoxide in any of the FAQs or on any of the associated links?

Since NONE of the documentation talks about carbon monoxide detection, I'll go out on a limb and say that these don't detect carbon monoxide. But why don't you email or call the manufacturer just to be sure. You never know, they may have forgotten to list it.

If these offered carbon monoxide protection, the literature would say so.

Wow...some of you people provide terrible community support. Simple answer, NO. No need to right a paragraph to demean someone.

Geez.

drewy813 wrote:That looks pretty cool. But how long does that charge last on it?

Spec says 30 days

10 year limited warranty
Unique AngelEye™ technology featuring an internal self-charging power pack
The only smoke alarm approved for use in garages where temperatures may fall to 5
degrees Fahrenheit.
The only smoke alarm approved for use in garages where temperatures may fall to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Audible warning is given when the power pack charge is low. Just turn on the light to re-charge the battery pack-it feeds off your home’s electricity. When fully charged, the DuPont™ Self-Charging Smoke Alarm is designed to operate for 30 days without additional electrical power.
Dimensions: 3"H x 5"L x 3"W

ItsAaronnnn wrote:So how do they work when the fire burns the wiring leading to your home before it gets inside the home?

Um, they have a rechargeable battery that charges when the light is turned on. Reading is super!

Don't waste your money on this junk.

I looked on Duponts site... there is no fire marshal approval or other certications... for very good reasons.

I have never seen a ceiling light mounted in the correct locations recommended for smoke detectors. Enclosed lights would reduce sensitivity and the sound of the alert.

Shame on Woot for selling this junk.

Will these smoke detectors cause the fire they may detect?

I wasn't going to get these because I don't think they will fit in my recessed ceiling lights. But for the bare-bulb garage lights, why not? Garage fires are common, and for $15 why not up my chances of early detection?

gbinman wrote:Don't waste your money on this junk.

I looked on Duponts site... there is no fire marshal approval or other certications... for very good reasons.

I have never seen a ceiling light mounted in the correct locations recommended for smoke detectors. Enclosed lights would reduce sensitivity and the sound of the alert.

Shame on Woot for selling this junk.

IT SAYS DONT MOUNT IN ENCLOSED LIGHTS!!! LEARN TO READ!