Kidde KN-COSM-B Battery-Operated Combination Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Alarm with Talking Alarm
by Kidde
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Kidde KN-COSM-B Battery-Operated Combination Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Alarm with Talking Alarm
Customer Review: Solid dual-use alarm; just one small caveat
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my third Kidde smoke-CO alarm. (I left the previous two in previous residences.) I bought a Kidde because from firsthand experience their alarms are reliable. This one features dual smoke-and-CO detection, and has a computer-generated voice that says "fire" or "carbon monoxide" or "low battery" in addition to eardrum-piercing sirens. The alarm uses 3 AA batteries (3 Energizers included in package), and so far I've found the battery life to be satisfying.
One minor caveat is the alarm will stop working after 7 years, due to the ionic sensor's limited life span. I believe this to be true of most home alarms. Since I plan to move (yet again) in a few years, this is not a problem for me.
Customer Review: The talking alarm that won't shut up
Summary: 4 Stars
We purchased this from another retailer shortly after we moved into our home, it worked a day or two then suddenly kept announcing "WARNING CARBON MONOXIDE" over and over again. Regardless of what we did and resetting the alarm it refused to work properly.
A nice expensive talking paperweight is what we bought from kidde.
Try another brand.
UPDATE 1/14/2011: I sent the malfunctioning unit back to Kidde with a letter explaining the problem. Kidde sent a replacement unit at no cost. Although our original unit malfunctioned big ups to Kidde for a fast replacement. 4 stars for customer service, 1 star off for the malfucntioning unit.
Customer Review: Excellent for the money
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't speak for the battery life, but the manual recommends replacing every 6 months. That leads me to believe that they should last at least that long, and I don't consider that to be a problem.
If you do buy one of these units, you may have trouble installing it onto the base. There is a plastic tab (1 of 2) that impair pushing it onto the base mounted on the ceiling. The trick to fix this is to push the tab down into the unit using a fingernail. (I suspect that this tab arms an internal switch to activate the unit's life cycle of 7 years, but I'm not certain of this.) The remaining tab will not be a problem.
Overall, it's a great value for 3/06 prices.
Customer Review: Garbage
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this unit thinking the voice warnings would be great and more descriptive than just beeping and chirping. Our house has interconnectible smoke detectors with battery back up. No problems with the other types of units, but this one announces "low battery" every minute since we installed it yesterday. We've tried three different batteries and after a few hours the warning starts up again. When I tried to call their support number they were "at lunch" and now they are closed. I am very annoyed with this company who sent me this unit to replace a unit that they had recalled - the photoelectric / ionization combo alarm. I wish I had bought a different brand.Customer Review: Not too bad
Summary: 4 Stars
I would have given a 5 star rating if all 3 that I ordered worked out of the box. 2 out of the 3 worked fine, but the 3rd would start chirping once every 30 seconds after a couple of minutes after the batteries were installed. The guide on the back of the unit stated the alarm has malfunctioned. I tried fresh batteries just to be sure, but once again, the chirping started. I like Kidde products and I think the features on this unit, at the cost of the unit, are a good enough reason to buy this item. Yeah, 1 out of 3 that doesn't work might not be too good, but at least Amazon is VERY GOOD about returning items and sending out new replacements.