just wondering, can dusk or bugs trigger the smoke detectors? the reason i ask is because one in awhile the smoke dectectors in my house goes off and its always a false alarm. the smoke detectors are all wired together, so if one goes off all the other ones goes off too. im not sure if its hook up to a system that test itself because the false alarms always occur at night. thanks

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_detector

 

They wouldn't also happen to be carbon monoxide detectors would they?

How long do they alarm for? If it's just a chirp they are asking for a battery.

 

I dont think the chamber is large enough for bugs to get in - dunno about dust.

In any case I had the same problem... Only at night which is weird - I am curious as well, but... smoke detectors are cheap - replace it, or them. If it is a false alarm I lose faith quickly in their performance. Replacing them all would be money well spent, especially if it lets you sleep at night...

O/T. Up here they now require smoke detectors in the furnace/central air system that is interlocked with the fans to turn off all forced air in the event of a fire. A good idea, but a pain to retro-fit and it would suck if you are having false alarms.

 

i dont know if it dectects carbon monoxide. and ya when it goes off its just a chirp. i dont think the ones we have use batteries.