Fire Angel Plug-in Smoke Alarm

I am sure we all know that smoke alarms for the home are a great idea but unless you live in a new home and have one wired in then you need to remember to replace the batteries regularly. My smoke alarms are now quite elderly (20 years+) so I started looking at the options. I discovered that there are more than just one type of smoke alarm. There are two basic systems according to the Fire Service: •Ionisation: These are the cheapest and cost very little to purchase. They are very sensitive to small particles of smoke produced by flaming fires, such as chip pans, and will detect this type of ... more

We moved into our current home just over seven years ago. When we purchased it, the previous owner left behind various items such as dirty old carpet (yuk) and 1970's curtains (double yuk) and two perfectly serviceable smoke/fire alarms. Of course we have worked through the house, redecorating all the rooms now several times over. One thing we only recently replaced though is the smoke alarms as they were in perfect working order (A little bit too perfect if you ask me - cooking toast always set the alarm off). When we heard the tell tale beep beep in the middle of the night, telling us that ... more

WE all know smoke alarms can save lives but do we all have one, and more important one that actualy still works. How often do we remember to test it or replace the battery?. How often do we get false alarms when cooking and decide its easier to dis-connect the battery?( something we should never do). We saw the fire angel in Tesco priced £17.99 and immediately thought, what a great idea, so we bought one. Since installing it we have never had a false alarm and even if you do you can reset it from the light switch. Below are the details as taken from the manufacturers web site: FireAngel Plug ... more

FireAngel PS101 - It is an ionisation type of smoke alarm so may not detect slow burning fires. That was news to me. It has worked well for a couple of years but then the battery life has gradually decreased until now it will not last more than a few hours after the light has been turned off. It starts chirping in the middle of the night to say that the battery is low. Yes it has been charged for a long time. I no longer have the receipt. I called up FireAngel anyway. They told me that they have not been manufacturing these for 10 years (the length of the warranty) so I thought I was in luck ... more

I bought one of these from B&Q about 18 months ago. Seemed great to begin with, but for the past few months it no longer holds a charge, it's fine if you leave the light on constantly but turn the light off and within a couple of hours it starts chirping so you're forced to switch the light on even though you don't need the light on as the chirping sound is extremely annoying. I've got the choice now between, a) leaving my light on permanently (will lead to increased electricity bills), b) chucking this piece of crap in the bin, or, c) taking it back to B&Q and demanding a refund, after all ... more

The Fire Angel PS-101 is a brilliant idea, but does tend to give problems after some use. I installed two in 2002, but within 4 years one of them was giving full-volume beeps although adequately recharged - and the only way to silence was with a hammer. Bought a replacement (pair!). The other one failed after 6 years of use. Also, the 10-year warranty is VERY limited: not only do you have to send the device to them at your cost (and with proof of purchase date e.g. receipt), but if it is over a year old then the only promise is that they won't charge you more to fix it than the cost to them ... more