First Alert CO615 Carbon Monoxide Plug-In Alarm with Battery Backup and Digital Display
by First Alert
|
List Price: Our Price: $31.95 You Save: $28.04 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $29.29 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of First Alert CO615 Carbon Monoxide Plug-In Alarm with Battery Backup and Digital Display
Customer Review: Might have just saved our lives
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought two of these after another cheaper carbon monoxide detector had alarmed in the middle of the night. I had read some reviews of the other carbon monoxide detector having false alarms and convinced myself it was probably a false alarm but I opened windows to air out the house.
I got these two days ago and they alarmed the first night. I opened the windows and deduced that it was probably my tankless water heater which was recently installed and failed inspection. It is scheduled to be brought up to code this week.
To prove my theory I made sure the central heat was off for a day and we hadn't used the clothes dryer for a few days and I put one of these detectors in the laundry room where the tankless water heater is installed. We have one of those large jacuzzi style baths in the master bathroom (hence the need to have the tankless) and we took a bath last night. When we were done the alarm was going off. I had done some minimal research before doing this test and knew that too high of a level (12,800 ppm) can kill you instantly after just 2 or 3 breaths. I had read that 400+ can be lethal. Wikipedia states 800 ppm will cause dizziness, nausea, and convulsions within 45 min and you will be insensible within 2 hours and 1600 ppm can kill you in 2 hours. So I went downstairs to see what the reading was.
I held my breath and went in. 875ppm is what it read. I called 911 and the firemen came.
My wife, 2 year old, and 2 month old were upstairs and in a room with the windows wide open. They came in and took their readings. They said they are not allowed to work in an environment where the levels are above 30 ppm without respirators. The windows had been open for 15 minutes and they were still getting readings over 70.
Later, we compared what their professional monitor said to what the my 2nd First Alert Carbon monoxide detector was reading (remember I bought two of these). Their reading matched exactly what this unit displayed. So you can trust these devices.
Please trust your device. Thats what you bought it for. Call 911. Open windows or get out of there. The long term affects of Carbon Monoxide exposure can cause heart problems, learning disabilities, and many other terrible things. I am now worried about what this has been doing to my family over the last 4 months since the water heater was installed. Like I said I have a 2 month old....
I have posted a picture of the unit reading the max value from last night.
Customer Review: get two of these right now
Summary: 5 Stars
I just plugged in my first one a few hours ago, and I'm going to buy another one now.
The cord allows you to place the unit up to several feet away from the outlet where you plug it into. That's very cool.
The alarm is plenty loud enough for me, and I like the other button you can press to see "what's the max CO level since the last time I cleared this?"
( I assume there's a way to clear it...)
!Look! -- here's a feature that is going to save you a night's sleep about a year from now:
Since live batteries are crucial, this unit *always* shows you the state of the batteries, with a little icon on the right side of the display. If it is actually running on battery power, the icon just flashes every few seconds. If it's plugged in, the icon is always visible. And by looking at it, you can tell when the batteries are getting low. This means, about a year from now, you can replace the batteries *before* it wakes you up at 3 in the morning, complaining about low batteries!
Yeah, OK, the manual could be better -- like an actual little booklet instead of one of these stupid big-pieces-of-paper-folded-up things. But it's clear and understandable, and if the print is too small for you, you need a new prescription.
Listen -- you always hear stuff like "get your furnace checked" or "open the flue all the way on your fireplace" or whatever. And you think "well, my house won't have that kind of problem." That is misleading and extremely dangerous.
In the last ten years I have now twice heard about people -- people whom I knew in both cases -- losing children to CO poisoning. In both cases the CO was generated by smoldering fires inside the walls, caused by old or faulty electrical wiring. In one case the house was *new*. By the time the flames actually broke out and became visible -- and by the time the fire started generating enough smoke to set off regular *smoke* alarms -- the victims were already dead.
The second of these incidents happened a few days ago.
If you use electricity, you need one of these. No, you need two of these, and you need them right now.
Customer Review: Didn't work out of the box; horrible ergonomics; cheap design
Summary: 1 Stars
After receiving this unit, I followed the instructions and installed the batteries, plugged it in to the wall, verified that the "receiving power" light was lit, and pressed and held the Test/Silence button. After holding it for a minute with no sound being emitted, I tried again for a minute. No dice.
Normally I'd request a replacement be sent instead, but for several reasons I decided to opt for a refund instead:
- I scratched two fingers on an extremely sharp corner at the top of the battery cover as I uninstalled the batteries in preparation for the return. Ouch!
- Removing the batteries was a pain: I had to use a pen to do it.
- The battery cover itself appeared quite fragile: I thought I was going to break it when I attempted to close it and it wouldn't budge without what felt like enough pressure to snap the thing.
- The battery cover design (where it is the entire front of the unit) is just plain lame.
- The buttons are remarkably cheap - they're at the end of thin plastic posts and swivel from the side. How hard is it to create a decent button, people?
- The "receiving power" light is buried deep inside the unit, so it's not clearly visible from a distance during the daytime.
So, since my overall feel for this product was "extremely cheap and poorly designed", and since my unit didn't even work out of the box, I just couldn't be inspired to entrust my life to a replacement.
Not sure what I'll buy instead, since for some reason this is the highest-rated CO detector on Amazon; go figure ...
Customer Review: Slight Catch To Be Aware Of....
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this particular model because I wanted an AC-powered detector. In my opinion, powering CO and fire detectors by batteries is wasteful. If you follow the "change the batteries in the spring and fall" on Daylight Savings time changes or whatever, you end up discarding and wasting batteries that are usually still good. I don't know what your power situation is, but my power is up 99.99% of the time. The chances of a fire or high-CO occurring while the power is off, for me, is... well, I'm better off playing the lottery. So I'm perfectly comfortable with the use of with AC-only units. Oh, and when my power goes off, I wake up instantly. The house going completely silent is not normal. I'll be awake in case of a fire during the power loss, and a lack of power won't increase CO levels.
The catch on this model is that while it's powered by AC, it still requires two AA batteries as backup, or the thing will annoyingly beep once a minute to remind you that batteries are dead or not inserted. You cannot silence the alert permanently. So I'm back to wasting batteries AND AC power. It won't run exclusively on batteries either, per the documentation.
The packaging is plastic vacuform, wasteful, and hard to open. Shame. The AC adapter cord is generously long, mounting screws and batteries are included.
I would buy a different detector next time, one that will satisfy my criteria of AC-only operation, and doesn't require batteries, period.
Customer Review: So Far, So Good
Summary: 4 Stars
Purchased this unit for my 83-year old mother who lives alone and has lost her sense of smell. Installed it in her bedroom. A different unit is installed in the den off the kitchen. The gas company told her there was carbon monoxide build-up in the front portion of her ranch-style, single-level house. The CO2 source was her 50 year-old gas stove and gas water heater. The gas company tech advised that a hose on the water heater be shortened and that the back door be kept open to dissipate the gas. Purchasing this unit was a more reasonable way to solve the circulation problem since the temps were below freezing. It is very easy to install and set. Instructions are simple. Plug-in convenient. All features are simple enough for almost anyone to use. During my 3 week visit there were no false alarms or malfunctions. The unit works as described and gives me some peace of mind 600 miles away. Unfortunately, the only way to know if it functions as designed is when there is a problem, which is why it gets 4 stars for now. Keeping my fingers crossed. FYI: There was also a buildup of carbon residue around and under the stove top, which can be raised like the hood of a car. It looks like black soot and also gives off an odor. Gas company said this is not harmful but should be regularly removed. Check with your own company.