Replacing a hardwired smoke alarm is a piece of cake. If you purchase a smoke alarm from the same manufacturer, you might be able to use the same wiring harness. You simply disconnect the existing ...

Lee Wallender is a home improvement writer of nearly 20 years and specializes in home remodeling, repair and maintenance. Sami Allen is the managing editor at Forbes Home, with over seven years of ...

Q: I changed the batteries in my smoke detector, but when I tested it afterward nothing happened. The batteries are new, but the smoke detector is very old. I know that it’s hard-wired into my home’s ...

Smoke detectors are one of the most important electronic devices you have in your home. Ensuring they’re in good working condition starts with using the best batteries for your devices and keeping ...

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should ...

Q. How often do I need to replace my hard-wired smoke detectors? And who should I hire to do this? Our 15-year-old system has five detectors. A few are chirping, and it doesn’t stop even when we ...

Q: I changed the batteries in my smoke detector, but when I tested it afterward nothing happened. The batteries are new, but the smoke detector is very old. I know that it’s hard-wired into my home’s ...

Q: About 10 years ago, I replaced the original wired smoke alarms in my home with wired dual sensors that use both photoelectric and ionization technology. Because I’ve read that in-home smoke ...