Can anyone recommend a decent smoke alarm?
 

I'm having a hell of a time replacing some really old ones I had in my place. Bought some Kidde FireX model ones because it's what I had before but I'm getting a bunch of false alarms and it seems like a common problem with this model when I looked into it. Bunch of others have mixed reviews and it's a lot harder to find a decent one than I thought.

Basically looking for one that is photoelectric and don't need a carbon monoxide with it.

I know it's a long shot and weird product recommendation, but figure we might have a fireman or someone well versed in these products on the board. I can't take another 4am false alarm.

If you are a tech geek you may like the nest alarms. We have a few and have them hooked up to our phones. Only problem is that they will not work with windows based smartphones. No false alarms yet.

For starters I am not a big fan of photoelectric detectors in resi applications. Steamy bathrooms, boiling water on the stove etc, etc, etc cause false alarms and for flash fires they will typical ennunciate much later than a comparable ionization, IME.

Brooks and Clipsal (Schneider Electric aka Square D) make high quality products.

The contractors who build houses and install new arent buying their products at Home Depot or Lowe's and if they are you need new contractors.

The above mentioned products will come from an electrical supply house (Grey Bar, City Electric, Gexpro, etc)

BTW side rant. Carbon monoxide detectors on the ceiling are a waste and a rip off and the manufacturers who produce them should be jailed. Because of the specific gravity of CO a proper CO detector should be mounted between 4-7' (in 9' ceiling) AFF.

A ceiling mounted CO detector would alert about an hour after every human died from CO poisoning in most cases.