First Alert SA521CN ONELINK Hardwire Wireless Smoke Alarm with Battery Backup

Product Details

Item Weight: 14.4 ounces
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
ASIN: B000EVO9D4
Item model number: SA521CN

By : First Alert
Price : $31.95
You Save : $44.04 (58%)

Item Description

Amazon.com Product Description
In the event of a fire each second counts. If a fire had been to start in your basement and the alarm there sounded, you might not hear it perfect away if you're sound asleep two floors up. With classic battery-operated alarms, you lose valuable time waiting for the smoke to rise to a different alarm, on a different level, prior to the alarm on your floor sounds. But with 1st Alert ONELINK alarms, if one detects danger, they all sound. This can alert you sooner, and it increases your chances of gaining out safely.
Till now, alarms that could signal every single other had been only on the market in houses with hardwired alarms requiring installation from an electrician. But Initially Alert ONELINK alarms communicate with no wires.
The Initial Alert ONELINK SA501CN alarm uses photoelectric sensing technology which is environmentally friendlier and which reduces nuisance alarms, making it excellent for cooking areas. It is also awesome for sensing slow smoldering fires speedily. The alarm incorporates a low battery warning and a super brilliant escape light. You can readily expand an existing interconnected 120-volt AC system by replacing 1 alarm in the series with this alarm. The test/silence button each silences a non-threatening alarm or low battery warning and permits you to test the unit's functionality. The AA batteries are simple and easy to install in the convenient pullout battery drawer. Two AA batteries included.--Bree Norlander
What's in the Box One particular smoke alarm, two AA batteries, and user's manual

Technical Details

Hardwire, interconnected wireless smoke alarm with battery backup
Uses photoelectric sensing technology which is environmentally friendlier
Low battery warning; simple to use silence/test button; pullout battery drawer
Add additional battery operated First Alert ONELINK alarms to expand without wires
120-volt with 2 AA battery backup

Customer Reviews

I have 7 of the First Alert SA520 Onelink units that were installed in my home 2.5 yrs ago. They were easy to set up although getting power to each unit in an older, 3-story home was the biggest challenge. They link to each other well. You may wish to install them in a particular sequence if using many of them on different floors. That way when the first one goes off, you might have a fighting chance of knowing which one it is since that one sounds off first. The reason I say this is because ours have begun going off in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. It has happened 4 times in about 4 months, and we never know when it will happen. They start sounding the alarm but shut off after about 20 secs, by themselves. We thought we had one defective unit but after removing it several days ago, they went off again tonight (6pm). All the other times have been when we were dead asleep, and boy is that a shock! These units are LOUD!
Gave it four stars for loudness and ease of setup. Minus one star for this bad habit I've described. Anyone know what might be causing this? Can they be tripped by RF interference? Says on the back that they "have to accept interference even if detrimental." (Who thought that one up?)
FOLLOW UP LATER.....
I discovered that the unit that was giving me trouble was near a ceiling fan on a dimmer switch that must have been sending dirty power into the circuit while it was running (as motors can do). when the fan is not running, i haven't had the problem with the false alarm. my suggestion is to narrow the search to find the one sending the alarm and take it off of the line power and run it only on the batteries to see if a dimmer or motor is causing the problem.

Bought 6 of these to replace my 13-year old BRKs. Easy to install. The wireless "mesh" interconnect feature was very easy to set up and seems extremely well designed. [The sensors in your "mesh" all recognize and talk to each other so that any sensor can trigger any or all the others, but they all ignore any sensors not programmed into their little network, i.e. they supposedly ignore the neighbors sensors. Also, if one sensor is remote, it only needs to be able to reach one other sensor in the net. It does not need to be able to reach all others...they will relay the alert.] They can also easily link into any existing hard-wired interconnect system in addition to the wireless.
Also I like the combination of battery backup and hard-wired power.
I also like the one button operation. Press the button to test, and press it again to silence any alert. So far so good. I think they are definitely worth the extra $ for trouble-free reliable detectors.
I also like the fact that they are optical (non-radioactive). But the instructions recommend to have both types (optical and radioactive ionizing), so I think I'll be buying 2 more of their ionizing type, one for each floor. Ionizing is supposedly better (than optical) for kitchen and wood stove areas.
I'll update this review if my opinion changes, but so far so good.