semiatic

End of life · Kidde · smoke

Kidde: Chirp every 30 seconds on a sealed-battery alarm

End of life, on sealed-battery models only: Kidde says a chirp every 30 seconds means it is time to replace the alarm.

What you see
No light named by the maker
What you hear
One chirp about every 30 seconds

If it is sounding a full alarm instead: the maker’s emergency instruction

Smoke alarm

Kidde: never ignore the alarm. First check for fire. If there is one, wake small children and leave at once by your escape plan — do not stop to dress or collect valuables; feel a door before opening it and use another exit if it is hot; stay low in smoke; meet at your meeting place; call the fire department from a neighbour’s house; do not go back in until the fire department says it is safe.

From What to Do When Your Smoke Alarm Sounds.

Carbon monoxide alarm

Kidde: a sounding CO alarm means carbon monoxide, which can be fatal. Press the TEST/RESET button, call 911 or your local fire department, and move at once to fresh air — outside or by an open door or window. Account for everyone, and do not go back in until emergency services have arrived, the home has been aired out and the fire department gives the all clear.

From What Should I Do When My Carbon Monoxide Alarm Sounds?.

What Kidde says to do about this signal

  1. Replace the alarm. Kidde says smoke and heat alarms should be replaced every 10 years, and CO and combination alarms every 7 years; the date code is on the label on the back.
  2. A sealed-battery alarm has no battery to change: the whole unit is replaced.

From What Causes Consistent Chirping? and What Causes Intermittent Beeping or Chirping?. If your alarm’s pattern is not exactly this, check the manual for your model: Kidde models do not all use the same signals.

Other Kidde signals

End of life on other brands

The same state sounds and looks different on each make — which is why a chirp pattern cannot be read without the brand.

Sources

Every line on this page comes from Kidde’s own documents, read on the date shown. Nothing is taken from third-party code sites or other makes.