Smoke alarms and cold weather

[David_from_Ashby]

Another cold weather induced problem. On our last trip, despite fitting a new duracell battery (twice) the smoke alarm kept beeping after a couple of hours indicating a low battery. I put it down to the smoke alarm being old and past its best. This afternoon I fitted a new alarm with a 10 year warrenty and a long life(5 year) lithium battery. The smoke detector has been sat in the (unheated) van for a few days before being fitted. Now almost as soon as I fitted the battery, it started giving the low battery alarm. I tried a different battery and the same thing. This is starting to frustrate me now.

Do other people have this problem with smoke alarms, or is it just me being unlucky with two?

What batteries do people use in smoke detectors in cold weather?

I know that the lithium battery in my Nokia mobile loses most of its charge if the phone gets cold (approaching zero C) for more than a few minutes.

Any ideas welcomed, otherwise I will see myself removing the battery next week if it continues to beep through the night!

David

 

[JeremyClarksson]

Perhaps the answer might be to remove the battery when you store the van.

I have had a similar problem but had not thought about the effects of cold on the battery - it does sound plausible.

 

[RogerL]

I only ever use supermarket own brand or Wilko 9v alkaline batteries for smoke detectors. After a year's use in the caravan it's replaced by a new one, with the old one fitted to one of the six house detectors. The batteries last 4-6 years on this basis.

We certainly don't have problems like those described, even at sub-zero temperatures.

 

[David_from_Ashby]

I think i will give tesco value batteries a try....

more expensive may not always be better!

David