Setting up new house

KristinaB said:
... Hubby would prefer not to have it hardwired since when his mother and my mother die, we will be moving over to MIL's house. By then, son will also have moved out and we will fit, and then rent out the new house. He may also decide to rent his mother's house and us stay in the new one. He would prefer it to be "portable" as much as possible. Our contractor is also checking up on things and will let me know what he finds.
Click to expand...
Even if you're going to rent it out later, the rental house will still need to have smoke detectors installed.
 
Reba said:
Even if you're going to rent it out later, the rental house will still need to have smoke detectors installed.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I knew that. We had hard-wired smoke detectors before and were not happy with them. One would go off at the oddest times and then the other just totally died. When we contacted the company for replacement, they were out of business. We will be buying good one with batteries. I never have a problem with remembering to change batteries.
 
Beach girl said:
The smoke alarm with strobe on the 2nd page for $69 is the one my contractor installed. One of the cheaper and less aesthetically pleasing models, but it does the job.
Click to expand...

That's the same one the man handed to me when I stayed at the Pod Hotel, when I stayed in NYC. They were aware about my deafness, no questions asked
it was interesting.

Jiro said:
one little strip of duct tape will solve the problem.

Cable Modem and Router were in my room. Its flashing light annoyed me so all I did was put a book in front of it. problem solved :D
Click to expand...

LOL, same for my strobe alarm clock, the light of the clock is very bright, so I used a old brochure I got from the hotel in Portland to cover it. :cool2:


When I get a house for myself, in the future, I will have all alarms and flashing lights I need hard-wired. Saves all the fuss. (not rented house though, since I have portable strobe fire alarm)
 
JClarke said:
When I get a house for myself, in the future, I will have all alarms and flashing lights I need hard-wired. Saves all the fuss. (not rented house though, since I have portable strobe fire alarm)
Click to expand...

not me. don't need no dang fire alarms. HALON system. 'nuff said.
 
Kristina, with new construction, at least here in mn, smoke detectors HAVE to be hard-wired. Check your state requirements.
 
Jiro said:
not me. don't need no dang fire alarms. HALON system. 'nuff said.
Click to expand...
But you need to be warned and leave the premises before the HALON activates or it will smother you, too.
 
AlleyCat said:
Kristina, with new construction, at least here in mn, smoke detectors HAVE to be hard-wired. Check your state requirements.
Click to expand...
Good point. I believe the building codes require it.
 
We have two hard-wired alarms that came with our house when it was new construction. We added two battery-powered alarms, one on each floor, for back up in a power outage.

Don't forget--there are expiration dates for smoke/fire detectors. They don't last forever. If you have old ones, you should replace them. We've replaced our detectors.

Don't put the old ones in the trash. They require special disposal.
 
Reba said:
We have two hard-wired alarms that came with our house when it was new construction. We added two battery-powered alarms, one on each floor, for back up in a power outage.

Don't forget--there are expiration dates for smoke/fire detectors. They don't last forever. If you have old ones, you should replace them. We've replaced our detectors.

Don't put the old ones in the trash. They require special disposal.
Click to expand...
Didn't your hard-wired ones come with battery backup? I believe ours did in our "old" house (which was new construction).
 
The hard-wired ones we used to have in Missouri did have a battery back up, but they still went off without any smoke or anything. We were awakened quite a bit. When I called for service, the company was out of business and no one else would help. We had an electrician remove them and put in the battery powered ones.

Hubby has now said that if the ones that Harris has come with a good warranty or whatever, then we can do it. Our codes do not require hard-wired smoke alarms.

Harris Communications New AlertMaster AL10 Combo Notification System with AL12 Remote Receiver & Doorbell by Clarity for Two Rooms Products for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Sign Language

Harris Communications Sonic Alert Sonic System SS1200C Signaling Combo with 2 Free Receivers Products for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Sign Language

These are the two I have narrowed down and then will do more checking on the smoke alarms. I only hope I have narrowed it down well. :confused:
 
Hubby has just stated that he likes the one from Sonic Boom better. Hope I'm getting a good one. We will order it in a couple of weeks.
 
I had a male nurse, and he has two deaf children. The parents are hearing. He told me that he installed all the hard wires for the doorbell-lights in their bedroom, smoke alarms, and some security cameras for outdoors. I don't remember what else he installed for his new home. I assume that he must have installed the ethernet wires for the videophones and computers. His children are fortunate what they need from him.
 
LoveBlue said:
Didn't your hard-wired ones come with battery backup? I believe ours did in our "old" house (which was new construction).
Click to expand...
No, our's didn't. They were installed in 1988. We have all new ones now.
 
Reba said:
No, our's didn't. They were installed in 1988. We have all new ones now.
Click to expand...

I don't like the batteries for my smoke alarms because we usually forgot where the beeps come from. I like the hard wires better, but I think I was told that the smoke alarms need to be replaced in every 10 years. Now, it made me think that do I really need to replace my strobe light smoke alarms, too. In fact, many firemen that we met and they do not have the answers! I am not kidding. I also asked the same thing in Camden, SC. I'm shocked. What happened? Are they supposed to learn something in their fire station?
 
All the smoke alarms in my house (6 years old) are hardwired with battery back-up. Both. (Except the BK strobes - just hardwired).
 
AlleyCat said:
All the smoke alarms in my house (6 years old) are hardwired with battery back-up. Both. (Except the BK strobes - just hardwired).
Click to expand...

ooo 6 years old? better check if battery's still alive!
 
KristinaB said:
Okay - as most of you know, I will be getting a new home in about 8-10 months. We are converting a 1344 square foot 3 bay garage into a 4 bedroom home. The floor plan has 2 bedrooms and a bath on the West and another 2 bedroom and bath on the East. Down the middle, we will have a large great room and in the back of that is the kitchen and laundry room. That center section will be totally open. What I need to know is (being new to deaf products and such), is, what all should I include. I know I need something for the doorbell. I already have a vibrating Sonic Boom clock. We are having wood floors. We will be required to have 4 smoke alarms. How do I get ones with strobes or lights? I won't have a lot of money to spend towards all this, so I need to be economical. It is not very often that I am home alone. I will be getting the flashing strobe light for my P3 soon. I have looked at the doorbells with flashing signalers at Home Depot and Lowe's and was not really impressed, but then, maybe I am not thinking right.

Can someone offer some suggestions or advice please?
Click to expand...

Just say... Congrats!!! :)
 
Back
Top