Customer Reviews

BRK Brands 7020B Hardwire Photoelectric Sensor Smoke Alarm with Battery Backup and Escape Light

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For years I had the BRK model 86RAC smoke detectors that were always churping, especially at night. I finally replaced them with the BRK 7020B. Very easy installation - the plugin attachment was perfect. These even came with a DC/AC escape light if a fire shuts down electrical service. I recommend this item for anyone needing to replace their smoke detectors.

These BRK smoke alarms have issued alarms twice now, which lasted several hours each and resulted in lost work time. Initially, two of these would beep every minute and nothing I tried would stop it, so I had them replaced, and then these seemed to be OK, but almost every night we would hear a 1 second alarm. Then 2 weeks later, the alarms went off steady and nothing we tried would silence or reset them. We even had the gas company come out to check the gas applicances for CO2, since 2 of the units also had the CO2 detectors built in, but everything checked out fine, so I just started unplugging the units until the alarms stopped. A few days later, the remaining 3 alarms that I still had connected started another false alarm and eventually stopped. I don't have time to put up with issues like this, and it can result in not even believing your smoke alarms, when it may be a real fire! I only purchased these because they were plug compatible with the First Alert, but I will have to rewire the plug and purchase a better quality brand.

Be careful - they are not supplying the item they describe. They are shipping old stock (pre-July 2010) that does not have the 'Latching' feature.

The product description on the Amazon website includes: "If one unit triggers an alarm, all smoke alarms in the series will sound. Power indicators show which unit in the series initiated the alarm." The second sentence is the one that relates to the Latching feature, which identifies the interconnected sensor that actually went off.

I ordered on 26 Sept 2011 and received a BRK 7020B that was made on 11 June 2009 - more than 2 years ago. Smoke alarms have a finite life, usually between 7 and 10 years. This model has a 10-year warranty "from date of purchase". Not sure I like their math!

After reviewing a number of different units, I selected the BRK 7020B because:

1. Hardwire power with battery backup - best of both worlds.
2. Photoelectric sensor - which means it can be placed near the kitchen without frequent false alarms.
3. The test button is also a hush button - just in case there is an occasional false alarm.
4. Battery is included.
5. Battery is accessed by a drawer without the need to remove the unit from the ceiling.
6. The escape light is a nice bonus, although it was not an essential feature for me.
7. Although I had to connect the wires with wire nuts and screw the base into the ceiling because this base and electrical plug was not compatible with the previous unit, it was not hard to do.
8. Inexpensive.

Thus far, fortunately, I can not report on its performance "under fire." But it seems like a good choice.

We replaced our old detectors with five of these. We had some random chirps after the installation, but that seems to have stopped after a few months now.

My previous smoke detector would go off any time we were cooking in the kitchen, so I bought this Photoelectric Sensor Smoke Alarm. The smoke detetor hooked up to the same mounting spot as the previous smoke detector. The hook-up required a very minor adjustment consisting of a mounting bracket change, which was no big deal - just had to loosen up a couple of screws and swap out the mounting plate, which was provided with the new smoke alarm. Now, we are able to cook in the kitchen again without having to disconnect the smoke alarm.

UPDATE on Aug. 4, 2010:

We installed six of these alarms in Sep., 2009, and now, less than a year later, one of the alarms has started chirping for no reason (even though we're putting fresh Duracell batteries in every 3 mos. - expensive!). Now, the red light on the unit stays on constantly, and nothing we do will make it turn off. Another fresh battery, etc., nothing works. The red light won't go out, and it chirps in the middle of the night, waking everyone up. These smoke detectors are poorly made, defective and worthless!! I've had it with First Alert! Don't put your families' lives in their hands, since their products are very shoddy and barely function, if at all! Now, I get to find out if their warranty is any good...

OLDER REVIEW:

We bought six of these smoke alarms in Sep., 2009, to replace our 8-yr-old BRK alarms (apparently the life span of these alarms is only 6-8 years, if you're lucky), and so far, so good.

Once all six of them were installed, they continued to chirp on & off for about an hour, but then finally stopped. It's been a week now, and they haven't chirped again.

NOTE: Be sure and carefully follow the instructions on using an Energizer 9-volt battery, and not Duracell. On the older BRK alarms, a Duracell battery would swell and possibly explode. (This happened to us three times before we read in a blog online that we should use only Energizer.) Scary! I'm guessing that BRK has corrected this problem in their newer alarms (after being threatened by a class-action lawsuit by thousands of unhappy customers), but to be on the safe side, only use ENERGIZER batteries.

One feature that sold me on this alarm is the Emergency Light that comes on when the smoke alarm is activated. That's a really great feature!

I'm happy so far with my six alarms, but if strange things start happening again, like it did with the older alarms, I'll be sure to update this review.

Bought 3 to replace old First Alert detectors in our house, built 1992. They were compatible with the wiring connectors and everything works as expected. Only thing we needed to change were the mounting flanges. Easy. The light feature is very desirable and the silence feature makes this a no-brainer purchase. We recommend these to everyone now.

I have a house with 20 year old hardwired smoke detectors. This one worked no problem, light is a great addition. Price is great, plan to buy 4 more after a month of waiting for false triggers. So far, so good. No false alarms since it is near the kitchen. Only problem mounting ring does not match old unit so a little ceiling painting will be required.

The two smoke alarms are fine. The only complaint is the 9-V battery in one was dead and had to be replaced.