Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Properly installed smoke detectors are often the first line of defense against a house fire, keeping the homeowner informed and ...

When you move into or buy a new home, no one hands you a guide to how the smoke detectors work. They "chirp," which really means shriek loudly, and you occasionally have to put new batteries in them.

Editor's Note Dec. 31, 2025: We combed through this article to ensure all of our product recommendations are in stock. The Google Nest Protect seems to no longer be available, so we removed it from ...