Kidde KN-COSM-IB Hardwire Combination Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Alarm with Battery Backup and Voice Warning, Interconnectable Review. Untitled Document The KN-COSM-IB combines a Carbon Monoxide and Ionization Smoke Alarm, providing two important safety devices in a single unit. This alarm includes a voice warning system that helps eliminate confusion, as it tells you if its detected fire or carbon monoxide, or even if it needs a new battery. This alarm has 9 volt battery backup, which protects you and your family - even during a power outage when many incidences occur. The alarm also allows you to easily silence nuisance alarms using its convenient Smart Hush feature. This talking combo alarm is powered by your home’s electricity and can interconnect with other smoke alarms in your home. Experts recommend interconnected alarms, because when one sounds, they all sound, providing an early warning against fire by dramatically increasing your ability to hear an alarm anywhere in your home, regardless of where the fire starts. Kidde KN-COSM-IB Hardwire Combination Smoke and CO Alarm with 9V...
"Kidde Combo Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detector" 2007-09-14
By Mark A. Rossini
The product is a great idea to combine both detectors in one. The voice portion that sounds is quite clear as to whether it is smoke or carbon monoxide. In addition the installation was quite easy for the do it yourselfer. Lastly, it was delivered with a battery installed...what a novel idea!!
"Operates as specified" 2007-11-06
By K. M. (Detroit, Michigan)
This seems to be working as the manual says. The only problem is that I've had a few false positives. This is because that the manual states that this unit should not be within 3 feet of the bathroom entryway. I'm going to assume that this is due to fact that the heat or steam from opening the door after a shower/bath would set it off. And it does. I'm not saying that this is a problem, I'm glad that it is that sensitive. But I didn't install it to the recommended directions and this is the result. So with this result I'm going to say that this unit has been tested thoroughly and they have put much effort into the day to day operations of this unit. As for the Carbon monoxide I can't say how it would react in a real life situation. But I would hope that if the fire portion of the unit was this well designed then the Carbon Monoxide should perform just as well.
I could recommend this unit for anyone looking not just for piece of mind for fire detection but if they also wanted to detect carbon monoxide.
"Great Replacement for Smoke Detector" 2007-11-05
By Mr. Anderson
Replaced a 10 year old BRK Smoke Detector...This Kidde is Great! Hookup took less than 5 minutes, just replaced old pigtail connector, with the included Kidde connectors. The Kidde base feels more sturdy and the sure-lock twist design guaranteed a perfect fit. The Kids love the "voice" warnings (test mode) for Fire & Carbon Monoxide...I also love the visible 120v power indication (green light). Did I mention that Amazon.com has the best price on this unit...yeah, pick one up!
"Peace of mind" 2008-10-22
By Christopher Powell (Ohio)
For those concerned about previous mfr date issues with reviews, my units were manufactured within 45 days of my purchase date -- which is actually extremely reasonable. I'm guessing that wherever these are manufactured, they are taking a boat trip at least once before hitting a warehouse to wait for me to purchase.
I recently replaced my 10 year old BRK detectors around my entire house. I installed the Kidde PI2000 dual sensor detector in each beadroom and a Kidde KN-COSM-IB smoke and carbon dioxide detector in the hallways in the basement, first and second floor hallways.
I researched first alert, brk, and kidde, mostly because I could see them at my local big box hardware store. I chose Kidde becuase it had more features for the wired-in detectors than both first alert and brk. First alert appears to have focused their current lines on battery only units and wireless communications. Brk also had limited options in dual sensors or combo CO detectors in a wired setting. Since neither first alert or brk could supply both a photo sensor/ion wired unit AND a dual CO and smoke wired detector that communicated together, I chose kidde detectors. I wanted them all to communicate and mixing and matching product vendors makes communications between the units impossible.
There are no pretty dual detectors that exist on the market. These are nice and boring and don't draw attention. They have a working hush button. That's a new feature that I appreciate. I haven't ripped one of these off the ceiling once yet to get them to stop their alarms.
I've never done a smoke or CO test. I'll let the experts run those tests. My only tests are using the test button. But it works as identified and is loud. The voice alarms in the COSM unit is good for the hallways and will supplement the normal alarm well. Children are reported to respond faster to "Fire!, Fire!". I've been know to sleep through my daughter's baby monitor on one of her bad nights... There's no way I'm not going to hear both the voice and the piercing alarms
DIY info:
Since I was replacing an existing AC wired solution, I wanted to continue to have the security of both AC power and battery backup. The best feature by far of this wired in solution is that all detectors are wired to communicate together. If my basement CO detector goes off, then the other two CO detectors also sound with an alarm and a voice indicator. When any of the smoke detectors trip, all detectors sound, and the hallway units voice alert "Fire!, Fire!". This connection between detectors will ensure that I know in the middle of the night if I have a fire in the basement... My house is well soundproofed between floors.
In replacing the existing brk wired in units with the Kidde detectors, I had to remove the existing collars and wired in "tails" since the existing ones were not compatible with the Kiddes. You can buy an adapter to convert from the BRK style of tail to the Kidde, but I considered that a waste of money. In my house, all of the smoke detectors are on the same electrical circuit and rewiring the tails and installing the detectors was a matter of ensuring the circuit was off, removeing 3 wire nuts, removing the existing tail, then twisting the new tail into the existing leads and putting the wire nuts back on. less than 3 minutes of work.
THe collar was easy to replace. A cordless screwdriver to loosen (not remove) the 2 J-box screws, twist and pull the brk collar off, add the Kidde collar, then tighten the screws.
All in all less than 5 minutes per detector... replaceing 7 detectors took less than an hour of work and I made sure to test each one for communications with the other units.
For the single detector that I have close to the peak of a cathedral ceiling I replaced the nice alkaline 9v that shipped with the PI2000 with an Ultralife Lithium 9v... they are made specifically for smoke detectors and are claimed to at least double the lifespan of a alkaline up to 10 years.... I'll let you know in ten years if its true. In any case I don't expect to have to change that high detector's battery for years now.
Remember that smoke detectors have to be replaced every 10 years.. units that detect CO will have to be replaced after 5yrs... its a chemical based sensor.
"great" 2008-06-25
By wii girl
This unit will detect carbon monoxide and fires. Here is what I did in our house... Our Bedroom, Daughters bedroom and top of the stairs we have the regular detector with a light to help us see to get out. Our spare room at the top of the stairs has a regular detector that also has the wireless feature but also hardwires in to all the others. In our bathroom we have a plug in wireless fire alarm. It gets the signal from the one in the spare room if ANY of our detectors goes off. It makes a verbal announcement that there is a fire. It is very loud and can easily be heard if you are in the shower even with a radio on. In the office at the top of the stairs we have a dual sensor alarm so if either type of fire (slow or fast buring) is detected all alarms will go off. Lastly in the hallway at the bottom of our stairs we have this detector that does smoke and carbon monoxide. If it detects either it will set off all alarms including the one in the bathroom. I feel like we are covered in everyway possible. I feel all of these are much better than what was installed when we built the house 7 years ago. My father was a firefighter for 25 years and we live in a town that relies only on volunteers so I take these detectors very seriously. We have also had a very scary false alarm at 2am before. I can not imagine actually having your house burn down, the false alarm was terrifying enough. But if something terrible was to happen I want every chance to get my family out safe.
REMEMBER though that carbon monoxide should be detected at floor level. We also have a battery powered carbon monoxide detector in the room with our fireplace. We rely on this unit to wake us up if we are a sleep. It will still reach this detector before it reaches our bedrooms. An alarm is your only hope for carbon monoxide.
By Mark A. Rossini
The product is a great idea to combine both detectors in one. The voice portion that sounds is quite clear as to whether it is smoke or carbon monoxide. In addition the installation was quite easy for the do it yourselfer. Lastly, it was delivered with a battery installed...what a novel idea!!
By K. M. (Detroit, Michigan)
This seems to be working as the manual says. The only problem is that I've had a few false positives. This is because that the manual states that this unit should not be within 3 feet of the bathroom entryway. I'm going to assume that this is due to fact that the heat or steam from opening the door after a shower/bath would set it off. And it does. I'm not saying that this is a problem, I'm glad that it is that sensitive. But I didn't install it to the recommended directions and this is the result. So with this result I'm going to say that this unit has been tested thoroughly and they have put much effort into the day to day operations of this unit. As for the Carbon monoxide I can't say how it would react in a real life situation. But I would hope that if the fire portion of the unit was this well designed then the Carbon Monoxide should perform just as well.
I could recommend this unit for anyone looking not just for piece of mind for fire detection but if they also wanted to detect carbon monoxide.
By Mr. Anderson
Replaced a 10 year old BRK Smoke Detector...This Kidde is Great! Hookup took less than 5 minutes, just replaced old pigtail connector, with the included Kidde connectors. The Kidde base feels more sturdy and the sure-lock twist design guaranteed a perfect fit. The Kids love the "voice" warnings (test mode) for Fire & Carbon Monoxide...I also love the visible 120v power indication (green light). Did I mention that Amazon.com has the best price on this unit...yeah, pick one up!
By Christopher Powell (Ohio)
For those concerned about previous mfr date issues with reviews, my units were manufactured within 45 days of my purchase date -- which is actually extremely reasonable. I'm guessing that wherever these are manufactured, they are taking a boat trip at least once before hitting a warehouse to wait for me to purchase.
I recently replaced my 10 year old BRK detectors around my entire house. I installed the Kidde PI2000 dual sensor detector in each beadroom and a Kidde KN-COSM-IB smoke and carbon dioxide detector in the hallways in the basement, first and second floor hallways.
I researched first alert, brk, and kidde, mostly because I could see them at my local big box hardware store. I chose Kidde becuase it had more features for the wired-in detectors than both first alert and brk. First alert appears to have focused their current lines on battery only units and wireless communications. Brk also had limited options in dual sensors or combo CO detectors in a wired setting. Since neither first alert or brk could supply both a photo sensor/ion wired unit AND a dual CO and smoke wired detector that communicated together, I chose kidde detectors. I wanted them all to communicate and mixing and matching product vendors makes communications between the units impossible.
There are no pretty dual detectors that exist on the market. These are nice and boring and don't draw attention. They have a working hush button. That's a new feature that I appreciate. I haven't ripped one of these off the ceiling once yet to get them to stop their alarms.
I've never done a smoke or CO test. I'll let the experts run those tests. My only tests are using the test button. But it works as identified and is loud. The voice alarms in the COSM unit is good for the hallways and will supplement the normal alarm well. Children are reported to respond faster to "Fire!, Fire!". I've been know to sleep through my daughter's baby monitor on one of her bad nights... There's no way I'm not going to hear both the voice and the piercing alarms
DIY info:
Since I was replacing an existing AC wired solution, I wanted to continue to have the security of both AC power and battery backup. The best feature by far of this wired in solution is that all detectors are wired to communicate together. If my basement CO detector goes off, then the other two CO detectors also sound with an alarm and a voice indicator. When any of the smoke detectors trip, all detectors sound, and the hallway units voice alert "Fire!, Fire!". This connection between detectors will ensure that I know in the middle of the night if I have a fire in the basement... My house is well soundproofed between floors.
In replacing the existing brk wired in units with the Kidde detectors, I had to remove the existing collars and wired in "tails" since the existing ones were not compatible with the Kiddes. You can buy an adapter to convert from the BRK style of tail to the Kidde, but I considered that a waste of money. In my house, all of the smoke detectors are on the same electrical circuit and rewiring the tails and installing the detectors was a matter of ensuring the circuit was off, removeing 3 wire nuts, removing the existing tail, then twisting the new tail into the existing leads and putting the wire nuts back on. less than 3 minutes of work.
THe collar was easy to replace. A cordless screwdriver to loosen (not remove) the 2 J-box screws, twist and pull the brk collar off, add the Kidde collar, then tighten the screws.
All in all less than 5 minutes per detector... replaceing 7 detectors took less than an hour of work and I made sure to test each one for communications with the other units.
For the single detector that I have close to the peak of a cathedral ceiling I replaced the nice alkaline 9v that shipped with the PI2000 with an Ultralife Lithium 9v... they are made specifically for smoke detectors and are claimed to at least double the lifespan of a alkaline up to 10 years.... I'll let you know in ten years if its true. In any case I don't expect to have to change that high detector's battery for years now.
Remember that smoke detectors have to be replaced every 10 years.. units that detect CO will have to be replaced after 5yrs... its a chemical based sensor.
By wii girl
This unit will detect carbon monoxide and fires. Here is what I did in our house... Our Bedroom, Daughters bedroom and top of the stairs we have the regular detector with a light to help us see to get out. Our spare room at the top of the stairs has a regular detector that also has the wireless feature but also hardwires in to all the others. In our bathroom we have a plug in wireless fire alarm. It gets the signal from the one in the spare room if ANY of our detectors goes off. It makes a verbal announcement that there is a fire. It is very loud and can easily be heard if you are in the shower even with a radio on. In the office at the top of the stairs we have a dual sensor alarm so if either type of fire (slow or fast buring) is detected all alarms will go off. Lastly in the hallway at the bottom of our stairs we have this detector that does smoke and carbon monoxide. If it detects either it will set off all alarms including the one in the bathroom. I feel like we are covered in everyway possible. I feel all of these are much better than what was installed when we built the house 7 years ago. My father was a firefighter for 25 years and we live in a town that relies only on volunteers so I take these detectors very seriously. We have also had a very scary false alarm at 2am before. I can not imagine actually having your house burn down, the false alarm was terrifying enough. But if something terrible was to happen I want every chance to get my family out safe.
REMEMBER though that carbon monoxide should be detected at floor level. We also have a battery powered carbon monoxide detector in the room with our fireplace. We rely on this unit to wake us up if we are a sleep. It will still reach this detector before it reaches our bedrooms. An alarm is your only hope for carbon monoxide.
