I really life First Alert’s combination fire and carbon monoxide alarm. It’s relatively inexpensive (about $35 to $40), detects both fire and CO, and uses batteries. The last part is essential–it makes installing this detector so much easier than with wired smoke/CO detectors, where you normally need to bring in an electrician to set a new one up.

It’s recommended to have a smoke and carbon monoxide detector in every sleeping room in your house. I got the First Alert combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarm to install in my kids’ nursery. The installation process was really simple, and took about 5 minutes of work.

If you’re brave, you can press the button on the First Alert alarm to test it. But be warned, it has an 85 decibel alarm, which is really, really loud! Cover your ears and make sure your kids aren’t in the room. You dogs are guaranteed to freak out.

Next, use the attached screws and drywall anchors to screw the mounting plate into the ceiling or high on a wall in the room you want to monitor. Finally, put the First Alert detector on the backing plate and give it a quick quarter turn. It will lock into place.

The detector lasts 7 years, and will start to chirp when it needs replacement. You’ll need to replace the batteries more frequently. Again, it will chirp to let you know when.

Check out the First Alert detector. It’s super easy to use and install!

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