It’s a good practice to change all your smoke detector batteries once a year. Most modern smoke detectors use two AA batteries, but some use square batteries, called a 9V.
SimpliSafe’s smoke detector uses a different battery, one almost none of us keep around the home.
SimpliSafe Smoke Detector Battery Replacement
The SimpliSafe wireless smoke detector uses CR-123A 3V battery. More specifically it comes with a CR-123A Lithium 3V battery. When buying the battery it’s sometimes called a “123” battery.
The 3V is a short, round battery, sort of like a squat AA battery, or even like a shorter C battery (though not quite as wide).
These aren’t the sort of battery most of us keep in the junk drawer, along with all our AAs, AAAs, Cs, and 9Vs, so you’ll likely need to make a special trip to the store for them or buy online. Luckily they are easy to find if you know what you are looking for.
- Amazon
- Home Depot
- Staples
- Walgreens
How Often Do You Need to Change the Smoke Detector Batteries?
Some good news with the Simplisafe Smoke Detector is that that battery last for longer than the 1 year period that you’d expect for most smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. In fact, SimpliSafe says their 3V battery should have a 3-5 year lifespan.
From a typical smoke detector the battery life might only last 1-2 years.
Popular smoke alarm manufacturer Kidde says their included AA batteries are good for two years but, speaking from experience and having owned at least 20 Kidde alarms, I can tell you that some will start beeping with a low battery warning at around the 13 month mark. That’s quite a ways away from the 24 months they say to expect.
I’ve also have AA battery leaks/failures where, through no fault of the smoke detector maker, the batteries need to be replaced before their full lifespan has expired.