Is it worth paying more for expensive 9v batteries

Home Improvement
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Is it a waste of money buying expensive batteries for a smoke alarm when you are supposed to replace them every 12 months anyway?

Are every day low cost alkaline batteries going to last a year anyway?

Does Choice test smoke alarms power use against the milli amp hour rating of a typical Gp alkaline battery?

Are retailers and battery marketing misleading us with claims of 5 and 10 year battery life? If you stop to read the words carefully it is the “shelf life” they are rating. It is not the total life in use in a device, that is being promoted. There is no disclaimer on the packaging to say otherwise, and “ shelf life” is in a smaller font. Worse is installing an expensive battery thinking it is good for 5 years a risk if it goes flat after 2 years and you do not notice.

Given the high cost of a lithium, 8 times that of a regular alkaline 9v battery, if it does not last 8 times longer where is the value?

For the Energiser range, the packaging of the Lithium $16 and Max Plus $8 indicates both are suitable for smoke alarms. The standard Energiser 9v alkaline battery packaging does not include the same advice.

Observations:
Most smoke alarms are either battery powered or have a backup battery. Typically a rectangular 9v battery.

The Choice product reviews indicate if a smoke alarm has a built in battery or replaceable battery. There is no indication on the actual battery life in the tests, although the built in battery models are supposedly good for ten years, warranty only for 5years?

Our smoke alarms are recent model PE sensor types with replaceable 9v batteries. They are not mains powered.

In seeking suitable replacement batteries, it was noted our Family First brand came with a generic GP alkaline battery. The current recommendation is to replace the batteries every 12 months regardless.

There are at least three type choices of 9v battery.
A standard alkaline cell, eg Everready Gold ($5.00 ea in two pack)
A long life alkaline cell, eg Energiser Max Plus ($8.00 ea) 5 year shelf life!
A long life lithium cell, eg Energiser Lithium Ultimate ($16.00 ea) 10 year shelf life!

There are a wide variety of other brands that can be as low cost as $2.00 each per battery in bulk packs. Eg Varta High Energy 12 for $20.00 at Officeworks.

We were going to splurge on the $16 lithium batteries, but then a little voice in the head suggested we were missing some critical information. How much more energy does a lithium 9v battery hold compared to a standard alkaline? And how much energy might an alarm use in a year allowing for the occasional test button press and false alarm? There is no hard evidence to suggest a service life of ten or even five years is reasonable.

And there is also a concern that regardless of battery type throwing away a part used battery every year to landfill is just not clever?

Wikipedia suggests a standard alkaline chemistry 9v battery has a useful capacity of approx 550mAh, compared to up to 1,200mAh for a lithium battery. Hence about twice the life. I could find no data to suggest that between different brands of standard alkaline batteries there was a significant difference in energy capacity of any. Not enough to justify the substantial difference in cost of 2 to 4 times more expensive.

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Member Content testing disposable batteries (from 2016) as well as the methodology. It seems to cover your needs although not explicitly for smoke alarms, just general cases of performance and endurance under high drain and low drain scenarios. As for rechargeable, here.

The Choice.com.au search is pretty good at finding such things :wink:

edit: 9v do not seem to have been included in the test but the tutorial information should be useful.

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I would guess yes. If one changes the batteries every twelve months irrespective of the condition of the battery after 12 months, then a cheap battery should suffice (providing it has the capacity to meet the 12 months power consumption of the smoke alarm).

Somethjng which is also if interest is that smoke alarms also indicate, through a high pitch intermittent beepm that the battery is low and the batteries needs replacing. If one waits for the low battery beep, why does oneneed to replace the battery every 12 months. I chose this option as I prefer not to create unnecessary waste (the smoke alarms are the only device in our house with 9V batteries) by replacing batteries every 12 months and hence before they expire.

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Yes, a good source, however unless you have some additional data on the power drain of a battery powered smoke alarm, it is not possible to assess.

Perhaps there is an answer in the relevant Australian Standard as to power drain for smoke alarms? If there was it would be reasonable that it would form part of the Choice tests.

The assumption here is that audible beep is evident when you are at home and not away. Also that the battery can maintain the beeping for enough time to cover any casual absence. My hearing tends to dismiss such subtle background beeps anyway, although it annoys the other householder, the beeps, as well as selective hearing. :wink:

It’s easy to accept that you use the cheapest suitable battery, however if you follow the Energiser blurb the cheapest suitable is an $8.00 battery! Double Ouch! :exploding_head:. Shonky?

Our house needs four smoke alarms, perhaps a fifth to meet the current Qld legislation. Given as we get older climbing up the ladder to a 4m ceiling is higher risk, it would be best if this was not too often. The option of mains wired and the future requirement for all to be interconnected alarming in Qld, may make a days cost for the Electrican seem worthwhile? They still need a battery!

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I was about to comment the same. 10 Year lithium powered units maybe have the same problem? how long does it whinge for before it hasn’t enough battery left to whinge?

Is it a scam? I guess how long a battery lasts depends on how much use the detector gets - standby vs alarm - typically the ones in bedrooms might not go off that often, but in the kitchen sometimes they get a regular test (toast, etc). Anecdotally, many years ago I seem to recall leaving batteries in smoke detectors for years before they started whinging of low battery. Surely the tech has made them more efficient? Surely a year is a worst case scenario - detector in a kitchen of a family of 6 who all like burnt toast? One wonders …

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Single-use batteries can be recycled. Options include local council recycling centres (varies council to council), ALDI supermarkets, Battery World and similar battery specialist retailers.

( CHOICE has a box for collecting any and all batteries for recycling. I take it to the nearby Battery World when it gets reasonably heavy. )

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I believe that the fire fighters wanted to ensure that the installed fire alarms actually worked after attending a series of fatal fires where the alarms didn’t go off.

The concept of changing every 12 months related to the worst case scenario life span involving the use of cheap NiCad batteries in alarms. Regularly replacing batteries had to be ingrained into memory by linking it with another unforgettable annual event, eg April 1st, end of daylight savings etc.

If you don’t change the batteries annually, and can’t hear the beeping as you say, you may need to get int the habit of doing a visual check for the flashing light which comes on when the batteries are running down.

It is recommended that you clean and check fire alarms are working once a month. I have noticed that when the batteries are running down the test sound is rather lame compared to normal, so I change the battery immediately.

If you haven’t seen the flashing light and the battery is flat-ish or flat, you should notice that the alarm is not functioning at your monthly clean & check.

As you may have guessed, I am on the side of buying normal L-ion batteries for the alarms, and letting them run for as long as they are healthy.

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That would be my preference, but note that the sealed battery smoke alarm units are supposed to last ten years, although the warranty on the ones I looked at today, Quell brand does not mention the battery explicitly. The standard battery ones will not be legal in Qld from 2022 if selling your home, or 2027 in any home?

Anecdotally sometimes the alkaline cells that come with the alarms we have previously used did not even last 12 months! Same for our current models. The brand name alkaline batteries seem to last longer, up to two years. Hence the thoughts about how long a standard 9V battery should last, and the unknown of different brands or types having different battery needs.

Our local council relies on the “other” option, which is a little less convenient, having to save them up, in a bag for the next trip to town to an Aldi or Battery World. Hope they don’t mind the leaky ones.

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The Planet Arc website has details of recyclers closest to you…

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Yes, it’s a great resource for this purpose.

Next trip to town. Planet Arc and I agree.

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I thought they they had to be hard wired. I would expect that they will still have battery backup as a fire can throw a circuit breaker/earth leakage switch rendering the smoke alarm useless unless it has some form of backup power.

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Hard wired, and interconnected alarming only applies as of the change over dates for each type of property.

The most expensive situation is retro fitting or updating older homes. The other aspect is that while in other states you can get away with one or two smoke alarms, you may need 5 up to 10 typically in Qld. One per bedroom plus all the other places. It’s not that this a poor outcome. It’s just not a cheap one considering what the rest of Australia is enforcing?

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Why do the batteries need to be draining while there is a mains connection? Surely the circuit could be designed so the battery is only ‘online’ if or when the mains fail.

if the smoke alarm runs on millivolts there is obviously a transformer, so it would be a simple matter to design an alarm with a charging circuit so that rechargeable batteries could be used. A rechargeable battery that is not used unless there is a power outage could last many years.

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The current requirement is that newer homes require 240V smoke alarms with backup rechargeable batteries. Most states require one per house, Qld apparently is requiring many.

When 240V is up they have green lights, red when running on batteries. They have 10 year replacement cycles because of the sensors not because of the batteries.

Not endorsing this site in any way, but it shows some of the products. There are also compatible bases so one does not need a sparky to replace them, just replace them somewhat like a globe, albeit a slide-in one.

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There are smoke alarms that are mains powered with a standby battery, and there are smoke alarms that are battery powered only.

For the mains powered alarms, which are best installed when a house is being built or major renovations, there are batteries that are supposedly able to last the ten year life of the alarm, if it is a suitable long life battery. There is no need for a rechargeable battery, although that would appear to be another good option.

For stand alone alarms which many Aussie homes currently use the options include a replaceable battery or built in non replaceable ten year battery.

In Qld which currently has stricter requirements you can still readily purchase stand alone battery powered alarms. Some are available with a built in non replaceable battery supposedly good for ten years. Others also come with a wireless alarm link to interconnect the alarms in a residence without the need for a wired interconnect between alarms.

Currently for established homes there is a significant cost in having a licensed electrician install 240v powered alarms and then interconnect them with cable between every bedroom, hallway, etc. exit area. As an alternative it’s possible the installed in almost every room, battery powered wifi interconnected alarms may become the future solution for all of Australia. It would appear likely none of these will have replaceable batteries?

There is a benefit of the stand alone battery powered alarms when they reach their, no more than ten years must be scrapped and replaced date. They do not require the expense of an electrician to replace them.

I wonder how likely the outcome that a wifi connected smoke alarm will last ten years on it’s built in battery, given when one goes off they all go off, plus the need to power the radio receivers 24x7 x365x10?

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Even if the batteries don’t drain, they still have a finite life. There are many things that affect the life of the battery. Even with a good quality battery, at some stage it will need replacing even if the smoke detector isn’t using the battery over its life.

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My understanding is batteries ONLY need to be replaced annually in rental properties. Seems perfectly logical as landlords are slack and many would not be bothered.

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I think you will find it is the landlord’s responsibility to install the alarms, but then it is the tenant’s responsibility to check smoke alarms as in Queensland, and in NSW.

Haven’t checked other states, but I am guessing it will be consistent. Fire/smoke alarms are treated the same as light globes in that the owner installs and the tenant maintains.

Regardless or the legislation, if I was renting I would be diligently checking the installed fire alarms/smoke detectors to ensure that they were working. My famiiy’s lives may depend upon it.

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It depends where your property is - in the NT, rental properties must be either 10 year lithium or hardwired. I think QLD is similar.

That is a sweeping and incorrect assertion.

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In Qld it depends. The RTA (Qld Govt Rental Tenancies Authority) issued the following guidelines in 2017 after the new laws were in place.

https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Newsroom/Open-house-newsletter-archive/Open-house-tenants-newsletter/Autumn-2017/New-smoke-alarm-legislation

It is best to read the link, noting:
The advice places a responsibility on the manger/landlord to ensure the smoke alarms are working and compliant at the start of a tenancy.

Tenants are responsible for testing the smoke alarms recommended monthly and replacing the batteries annually as well as any cleaning for the smoke alarms.

Other requirements for hard wired alarms, interconnction of alarming etc are phased in requirements. Compliance depends on a number of factors including property age, tenancy history and the age and type of smoke alarms installed at the effective date 1 January 2017.

There is no one single answer, although all leased properties must fully comply with all the updated requirements from 2022, or on lease renewal from this date. Properties approved for construction from the 1 Jan 2017 must comply on completion.

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