Well, anything that high up should have been wired in! No way a battery jobber unless it was solar!
Sad tale of my BIL home loss a few years back in the wildfires we had here in Northern California… Had both a monitored fire alarm system, also battery smoke/fire detectors… Fire came in so fast, all they could do, no power, was to grab purse/wallet, hold the garage door up to escape in their car, banged on our door, 20 miles South at 3 AM, where we helped them until they could get into a temp apartment. Lost everything, 3 bird pets, Indian art, rugs, pottery, an old glassware collection and all his geologist history, cameras, all of it.. Anyway, the phone lines were out, including the wired detector, the battery detectors never sounded, only the flashing light of the home next door going up, woke them in time to barely escape… So, while I have detectors, hallway, laundry room, & workshop, I don’t have any faith in their function in time of need, I’ve added a door in far master bedroom to the outside, else there was no escape routeif there were a fire in the front of the home.. But, detectors? not so enamored of them.. The wired company eventually contacted him to see if he was OK, but many hours too late to be useful… The battery detectors burned away in the fire… Poof…
Good news was they had upped their insurance coverage after a major remodel of the kitchen recently, and were financially well covered…
4+/2+ for rent is “237 results” available near me.
4+/2+ for sale is “708 results” available near me.
There’s definitely a lot more supply for sale than there is for rent!
Not really. Renting means less stability, and once you have kids, especially kids in school, you want stability. Can you imagine having to change schools every 2-3-4 years because you had to move to different place that may be in a different school district?
Even if the rent versus buy calculation leans toward renting, I think for a family during the schooling years, it may still be better to buy. Not necessarily financially, but for social and quality of life concerns.
I think you’re a little nuts to climb the ladder now. What you really need is a neighbor kid to help you and give him/her 5 or 10 bucks.
Yep. Two of mine are 24 years old (connected to AC power) and have yellowed. Here are some photos.
New one that I put in a few days ago (on a wall that is easily reachable with a stepladder).
The way modern smoke detectors are designed, the ones connected to AC power (like all of mine are), still require a 9V backup battery. And the 9V battery goes dead every year or two and needs to be replaced to stop the low battery beeping. My SIL just installed a new non-AC smoke detector and it came with an integrated non-replaceable 10 year battery.
I’m not allowed on ladders anymore, either - dear wife won’t let me. Anything that needs ladderin’ gets saved for the handyman.
Not allowed to do any pressure washing, either, since I slipped a few years back and gave myself a Lisfranc fracture. Probably not something that generalizes, but it’s one less chore to do….
It is wired in. But every year or so it started beeping because the 9V battery is dead. I replaced it with a lithium battery smoke detector about 10 years ago but that’s now close to it’s 10-year service life.
The smoke detector needs to be placed near the highest point in the room (It’s a vaulted ceiling)
If I placed it 4 or 5 feet lower, you’d need to accumulate smoke 4 or 5 feet deep near the top of the ceiling to be certain that the smoke detector went off.
My bad, I misunderstood and thought you were comparing buying versus renting, not renting apartments versus houses. It wasn’t super clear.
As with most housing issues, location matters. Take Boulder, CO - 79 4+ bedroom homes for rent, versus 48 4+ apartment / condos / townhomes for rent.
As with housing, for schooling, location matters. When los diablitos were younger, we moved into an area that allowed for open enrollment and rented for 3 years before buying a home in another town within the same county. Kids stayed in the same schools the whole time.
Hey eldemonio. I agree wholeheartedly. It seems like every evening on the local news there is some apartment complex going up in smoke.
You just don’t know what idiot is living next door to you on either side or above you or below you playing with a gun or his kids are playing with a gun or they are playing with lighter fluid or they are charging their iphone on a cloth sofa or bed.
In my area the fire dept would replace batteries for you. Now they refer you to a commercial service. Last time I got all 7 of mine replaced w the new 10 year models.
