Smoke alarms for homes are a real necessity. The problem with those of the past (and even now) is that they 1)rely on an electrical connection to operate, and 2)are forced to be placed in pre-determined locations as predicated by the house’s construction. For example, in our case the smoke alarms already in place when we moved in connected electrically and were placed aprox. 14 feet high on the ceiling — making testing them more than a chore but a real nightmare. Plus the smoke alarms don’t do a thing when it comes to carbon monoxide which is colorless/odorless/tasteless and can lead to injuries and yes, death. Also remember that here in SoCal outages due to weather, govt. power shutdowns, etc. are a real issue to deal with.

Considering the above, being able to eliminate using those out-of-date smoke alarms seems a no-brainer. As long as you have the X-Sense Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm (SC07-W).

The X-Sense Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm (SC07-W)

The SC07-W at its core is designed to detect both smoke and carbon monoxide and provide a warning alarm. Physically it’s fairly similar to other smoke alarms, although the addition of a small LCD screen on its face is not. This screen shows off some information, although it could be difficult to see, which makes the colored strip indicator on it useful: power (green), fault (yellow) and alarm (red) which means things are dangerous and you need to move to fresh air and call 911. Since the alarm can be either wall or ceiling mounted, it behooves the owner to know what those lights mean (especially when ceiling mounted).

So let’s talk about the power the SC07-W needs to function and where it can go. It can go pretty much anywhere because it brings its own non-replaceable battery that’s good for 10 years. And which will give a warning when it’s time to be replaced (fun fact: just a couple of years ago our area wasn’t allowed to have a battery-powered smoke alarm). As to mounting, it’s pretty conventional in that you mount a ring on the wall/ceiling using the included bits and then screw the alarm onto it.

Interconnectivity

Another thing that makes the SC07-W different from other alarms is that they can be interconnected to not only allow for testing but also when one goes off all the other SC07-Ws in a household will do the same. About 1700 square feet of space pretty much insures that most areas of a home will be covered. Also to note, this connection is not based on using the home network — no WiFi is involved. There’s even an optional remote that can be had to make physically going over to an alarm for testing unnecessary. And yes that includes a smart app as well.

Various packages are available — in this case a three pack — which makes sense since a single alarm just won’t cut it. Because, as we see it, you need to cover at least the bedroom, kitchen and hallway leading to the front door (that’s what we did). Additional units are available, and a total of 24 interlinked are possible. More details about the X-Sense Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm (SC07-W) can be had at https://www.x-sense.com/