My 6 month experience with this has been very good. The battery light blinks intermittently to tell you it needs changing. It does start squeaking when it becomes nearly out of energy. The battery changing experience is quite unique. The mega-plastic detents on the back panel make it very difficult to open and close (good/bad - you make up your mind). And there is a little plastic spring bar - allowing you to only replace the back cover when a battery is inserted - sort of an ingenious way of making sure there is a battery present in the unit(good/bad). The back plate is wall mountable too.

The Cyclops lights are actually quite bright - so it might bother you if you're a light sleeper or plan to put it in a child's bedroom. Overall, though the price is exceptional - I got mine at nearly double the Amazon price. I'd give it 4 stars had it not been for the bargain basement price and value.

31 of 36 found the following review helpful:

Life or D E A T H - Every House Should Have One!  May 11, 2000
By Al the Pal "Al the Pal"
I purchased an earlier model of this detector two years ago; prompted by the death of a friend whose home had filled with CO during a blizzard, killing him and sending his wife to the hospital. Their home is equipped with a high efficiency gas fired furnace and the snow drifted over and plugged the PVC exhaust vent, located low on the side of the house. The exhaust temperature was apparently too low and the furnace on too infrequently to melt an exit path for the gasses. CO can accumulate from many other sources in your home.

BY ALL MEANS, IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE AND CARE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY, INSTALL A CO DETECTOR IN YOUR HOME IMMEDIATELY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN AN "ENERGY EFFICIENT" HOUSE!

Mine has never gone off, but I do know several other people in more energy efficient homes who have been saved by theirs. The dog won't wake you up if he's been overcome too!

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Many years of great service.  Dec 29, 2006
By D. Hiltz
Gave me many years of great service -- easy to use, reliable, battery lasted a long time. Now chirping indicates the alarm needs to be replaced. Wish just the sensor could be replaced, as with other models, and not the whole unit (though the sensors are nearly the same price).

3 of 4 found the following review helpful:

5 stars for being a life-saver!  Feb 20, 2002
By Eric James Cooper "ejames43"
Being a new parent - I'm extra cautious these days. You can't go wrong with the old saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." So, I definitely recommend this detector. It could save your life!

However - and this contradicts an earlier review - please comparison shop a little before you buy...

7 of 10 found the following review helpful:

Get a detector, but not from First Alert...  May 17, 2004

I think every home should have a CO detector in it.

Having said that, avoid this one and any others from First Alert. I bought an expensive one from them, and it gave a constant scream. The silence button did not work. Customer service would only say it shouldn't do that. Someone suggested that it might need to 'burn-in' for a few minutes. So I sealed in a room surrounded by blankets to keep the noise down, and it could still be heard a block away four hours later.

The store I bought it at exchanged it for this model, but the problems are just as bad. And again, no help at all from customer service. I have had my house checked and there are minimal levels of CO, but these detectors keep going off and deafening everyone around.

See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.com