So, I went around the other day to check the status of our smoke alarms and CO detectors. It wasn’t pretty. There was only one working CO detector, and no working smoke detectors. I knew I needed to remedy that, and quickly.
Nest Protect
We decided on the nest protect. With the three levels, and the old boiler in the basement, I knew I wanted my smoke alarms and CO detectors to talk to one another. My fear was we wouldn’t hear an alarm going off in the basement on the second level. The nest protect did that, and a bunch else. While install was a bit of a pain (the directions on getting the wireless network working weren’t entirely clear), it’s nice to have our phones hooked up to our alarm system.
We installed one at the top of the stairs in the second floor hallway, one on the first level 10 feet away from the stove at the bottom of our stairs and one in the basement at the bottom of our stairs. We have a fourth one, because the deal at Home Depot we got was for 2 for 200 dollars. That will likely get installed in the basement bedroom when we finish it.
Installing Regular Smoke Alarms
Due to the fact that these smoke alarms were 100 dollars a piece, we decided to install in the bedrooms much cheaper smoke alarms. These were in fact $4 after a discount at Menards, and included a battery. We placed one inside the door of each bedroom. We’re thinking we might install a couple more on the main level as well.
I threw them up in no time, and here’s how I did it.
I used a couple of extra tools (see above). I grabbed my double sided tape and stuck it on the back of the mount (see below).
Next, I mounted the mount to the ceiling and drilled holes (see below). So much easier in my mind then making the spots with a pencil. As an added bonus, you can step away and double check that you’ve put it in the right spot. 
Then it was simply screwing in the screws and attaching the smoke alarm. I know I’ll go to sleep feeling a lot more comfortable knowing that we are a lot more protected from fires.
Kuunari 
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