Help! My house's smoke detectors going off despite no smoke!

[Svenfan1234]

Yesterday now, two of our smoke detectors have gone off despite there being no smoke. They made regular smoke detector sounds and went off after three beeps. They went off twice -- once in the morning and once late at night. These smoke detectors are also fairly new having been purchased around 2019 I believe. Anybody know what this could be? Because smoke alarms, especially late at night, give me huge anxiety. Thanks!

[RetroGuy2000]

That's not fun!

Could the batteries be dying? Some detectors will beep when their batteries run low. Also, some smoke detectors are also carbon monoxide detectors, so that might be an issue.

You could also very carefully trace the wires and then do this:

[ponytail]

Batteries might be low. Or reset the smoke detectors. Also they might need to be cleaned inside and outside.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

Yesterday now, two of our smoke detectors have gone off despite there being no smoke. They made regular smoke detector sounds and went off after three beeps. They went off twice -- once in the morning and once late at night. These smoke detectors are also fairly new having been purchased around 2019 I believe. Anybody know what this could be? Because smoke alarms, especially late at night, give me huge anxiety. Thanks!

There are many reasons this could happen. Some questions need to be answered.
First are they hard-wired (connected to electric wire), part of home security, or battery operated?
Does it make a chirp, chirp, chirp sound or a BEEP BEEP BEEP?
Just because they are new, doesn't mean that they can't malfunction.
If battery operated, change the batteries even if you just changed them.

If you can not get it to stop randomly going off, contact your local FIRE DEPARTMENT or stop by the station. They my send someone out to inspect them or even install new ones at no charge.

I would suggest you do what is listed in the websites (below) first before contacting the fire department, then you would be able to tell them what you have tried. GOOD LUCK, let us know.

Here are a few websites:

Why Your Fire & Smoke Alarm Keeps Going Off Randomly

10 Reasons Why Your Fire & Smoke Alarm Keeps Going Off
https://www.puroclean.com/blog/top-1...-off-randomly/

Why Is My Smoke Detector Beeping When There’s No Fire?
https://guardianprotection.com/blog/...etectors-beep/

(warning has some popups on this site)
Smoke Detector Going Off for No Reason? Here’s Why (and How to Stop It).
https://www.calltoptech.com/smoke-de...for-no-reason/

[MISST3]

That happened to us. We had a new smoke dectector that was alarming for no apparent reason. We called the Fire Dept, they came and said it was defective, and installed a new for no charge.

[Penny Lane]

I have a smoke alarm in my furnace/laundry room. While the dryer is running the smoke alarm will go off sometimes. I think it is because of the humidity generated by the dryer.

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

That's not fun!

Could the batteries be dying? Some detectors will beep when their batteries run low. Also, some smoke detectors are also carbon monoxide detectors, so that might be an issue.

You could also very carefully trace the wires and then do this:

I like the idea of doing that in the picture Luckily, at least as far as I know, the smoke detectors hasn't been going off today but went off twice yesterday (once around 8:30-8:45am-ish, and once around 11:30pm ish). I wondered if it was the batteries too, but I've heard that they make more of a chirp than a beep when the batteries are dying but it still may be a good idea to change them regardless. I wonder if it could be because of humidity as well?

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by Foggy

There are many reasons this could happen. Some questions need to be answered.
First are they hard-wired (connected to electric wire), part of home security, or battery operated?
Does it make a chirp, chirp, chirp sound or a BEEP BEEP BEEP?
Just because they are new, doesn't mean that they can't malfunction.
If battery operated, change the batteries even if you just changed them.

If you can not get it to stop randomly going off, contact your local FIRE DEPARTMENT or stop by the station. They my send someone out to inspect them or even install new ones at no charge.

I would suggest you do what is listed in the websites (below) first before contacting the fire department, then you would be able to tell them what you have tried. GOOD LUCK, let us know.

Here are a few websites:

Why Your Fire & Smoke Alarm Keeps Going Off Randomly

10 Reasons Why Your Fire & Smoke Alarm Keeps Going Off
https://www.puroclean.com/blog/top-1...-off-randomly/

Why Is My Smoke Detector Beeping When There’s No Fire?
https://guardianprotection.com/blog/...etectors-beep/

(warning has some popups on this site)
Smoke Detector Going Off for No Reason? Here’s Why (and How to Stop It).
https://www.calltoptech.com/smoke-de...for-no-reason/

We've had these I think at least for two years, if not a little longer, because the last ones were malfunctioning and dying. I'd hate to think these are malfunctioning to, as the beeping isn't consistent at all, just at random times--only twice as far as I know so far yesterday. It's battery-operated as far as I know--so do any of you know if a power outage (we had a multi-day power outage last week) could affect a battery-operated smoke detector? Because I have no idea.

[Svenfan1234]

So, some good news: the smoke alarm didn't go off last night at all or yesterday at all or so far today at all. So that's definitely good news for me.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

We've had these I think at least for two years, if not a little longer, because the last ones were malfunctioning and dying. I'd hate to think these are malfunctioning to, as the beeping isn't consistent at all, just at random times--only twice as far as I know so far yesterday. It's battery-operated as far as I know--so do any of you know if a power outage (we had a multi-day power outage last week) could affect a battery-operated smoke detector? Because I have no idea.

Do you remember from when they were changed, were they hard-wired into the building, or just stuck to the wall?

The coincidence of your earlier power failure, might be a culprit if they are hard wired. I'd remove the cover and take a peek to see if there is just a battery, or if there is a junction box in the wall behind the smoke detector.

Additionally, there are two types of smoke detector. There is the "photoeye" type that inside has a tiny light source and detector, that trips when smoke interrupts the light beam between them. and additionally there is the "ionization" type detector that detects ionized air that accompanies combustion.

The photo eye type is prone to build up on the light detecting surfaces, especially if you fry a lot of food. The hot grease fumes in the air find cooler surfaces and condense on them. Frying bacon seems to be the worst offender.

The ionization detectors are more expensive than the photo eye type, because they avoid many false alarms.

[Svenfan1234]

I hate to bump this up but early this morning between 5:30 and 5:45 and it didn't make a dying sound of chirping but normal beeping, and again there was no smoke. It hasn't gone off all day since then, and we have also cleaned it now, so hopefully this does the trick. My inclination is it's the same smoke detector, but it hasn't gone off since last summer--maybe just a freak thing, which is what I'm leaning towards. And also, we're also leaning towards high humidity last summer being the culprit of last year's short burst of smoke detector beeps. So, hopefully it doesn't go off or at least during the day--I mean, who wants to be woken up at 5 in the morning by loud beeps when there is no fire?

Also, these are battery operated smoke detectors but they have batteries built in that are good for ten years. Thought I'd add additional info. Hoping nothing happens tonight.