WNY Handyman

As most readers of this blog know, the Kidde 1275 smoke detector is not a good unit. They were inexpensive and used by a ton of builders in new builds. Many folks have experienced middle of the night alarms that make it difficult to trust the units in the future. Since the alarms are hard wired, many folks would love a unit that can be swapped with the current ones with minimal effort.

Kidde has the same interface for a newer model and can swap out with the 1275′s. The unit is the i12040. If you don’t trust your old 1275′s, but don’t want to pay an electrician to rewire at every unit, the i12040′s might be worth a try. If Kidde has solved the defective unit issue with this model, then we can sleep tight.

In fact the cost for 10 replacement units would be less than the cost for an electrician to come out and rewire the connectors to a different model. This model also has a ‘hush’ feature that could come in handy.

If your 1275′s were installed by the builder, the reason for the false alarms could be due to dust during construction. Most builders will keep them covered with a cellophane cover during the construction phase, but that isn’t always the case. Swapping the 1275 out with a new i12040 could be a cheap fix for a big annoyance and middle of the night wake ups.

Kidde i12040 smoke alarm - replacement for the Kidde 1275

Model i12040 Replaces all existing 1275 smoke alarm models

Current replacement units are shipped as i12040 which are a direct change-out replacement for the Kidde 1275. They fit the Quick-Connect power harness for a speedy installation.

Read more about the experience many have had with the defective Kidde 1275

Consider this a review of the Kidde 1275 smoke detecor. READ the comments below. Summary: This is a unit you do not want to purchase!

If you have a Kidde 1275 smoke alarm. Be prepared for a false alarm. Well, it might never happen, but based on the reviews of the Kidde 1275 at Amazon.com you won’t be the only one if your alarm does go off on its own.

Of course I am not writing this out of the blue. Many builders will install these units in new builds. They are inexpensive hard-wired smoke detectors. However, it isn’t uncommon for these units to be defective, or to go bad and go off in the middle of the night. Ours went off on Friday night at 3 AM, and then at 4 AM. I was able to find the offending unit by simply blowing up at it and setting the alarm off again. I can honestly say that you will probably not sleep as well with the feeling that your alarm will go off in the middle of the night.

Since this is a hard wired system, every detector will sound when the alarm is triggered. If you have young children, I can assure you that this is something that they will not forget. When this happened last year, we brushed it off as a one time event. My son, who was 3 at the time, kept his fan on for a couple of months because he thought that would stop the alarm from sounding.

One nice thing is that you can locate the offending alarm. It will be the unit that is blinking after the alarm goes off. In my case, I simply pulled the unit from the system. I was pretty certain that it was bad when I was able to set it off by simply blowing on the alarm from 5 feet away.

I write this review in hopes that this does not happen to you. If you are building, or outfitting your house with new smoke detectors, I would recommend that you avoid the Kidde 1275. It received 1 star out of 5 for a reason.

The following is an alternative unit that can utilize the same connection as your 1275 / 1285. It is still from Kidde, but the reviews on the unit are good. Might be worth a look: