BRK M300 Ionisation Smoke Alarm, Battery Powered, Compact Design

This was a replacement for a similar very old smoke alarm. This replacement fitted on to the original screws and was very easy to install.

BRK M300 Ionisation Smoke AlarmThis is a compact battery-operated smoke detector of the type so many of us have in our homes. It comes with a battery. The sound is nice and loud.A couple of niggles:* The instructions say to check the smoke alarm by depressing the button for up to 20 seconds till you hear 3 beeps. However, this one only gives 2 beeps. I presume it still works, but it is slightly concerning.* I find it extremely hard to work out where to sight the smoke detector: at least 30cm from this, no more than 30cm from that, and so on and so on. With high ceilings that cannot be reached except by step ladder, I don't know where to place it. The instructions seem complex and they are a list of do's and don'ts. That's the same as other smoke alarms I've had, but it does still leave me stumped.For sale at the time of writing this review at £7.71.

This is a compact, unobtrusive ionisation smoke detector that I found as easy to fit as any I have tried. BRK make a wide array of alarms and detectors but this is at their more entry level; nevertheless it is well built and passed my own smoke testing using a taper, provides a deafening tone and at the price you can’t go too wrong.Be aware that recent findings suggest that young children aren’t easily woken by such alarms (there are some on the market that play a recorded voice warning that is supposedly more effective) but otherwise this design of alarm is a tried and tested last way to ensure you are alerted in time.

This is a compact smoke alarm - a very neat design and unobtrusive once installed.It comes complete with fixing screws and instructions. The battery should last for ages and is replaceable (some alarms have to be discarded once their battery runs out). The alarm sound (very loud) can be checked by pressing a button.Smoke alarms in the house offer a sense of security - I just hope it is never put to the test in a real-life situation.

This is easy to install, comes with a 9 volt battery, ready to work almost out of the box. It has two screw slots in the back and comes with instructions re: placement and operation. There is a button to test operation but this is where I have a single criticism; it make no audible test beep, although a red light flashes. Apart from that it remains basic but presumably effective.

Nice small alarm. I’m having to replace a ghastly one that had no replacement battery...just peeped constantly when it expired. Although I bought a great Nest Protect (constantly monitoring itself), it has to be stuck on a 2.4GHz bandwidth, which is flooded with the other Nest products, so I can’t add another. Living in a semi means that I do really need an alarm upstairs because you never know whereva fire MIGHT come from. I assume it is radioactive, with an alpha emitter, but there aren’t any EU warnings....well it’s not celery is it?

Great little smoke alarm that's fairly easy to fit. Very basic, but it comes with a 9v battery and its own screws and rawlpugs, but I would have thought it's light enough to just stick to a ceiling with double sided sticky pads if that's more convenient. The case easily flips open to insert and replace the battery and snaps shut securely. As another reviewer has mentioned, when tested it only emits two beeps instead of three, but they're piercing and would be audible from quite a distance away. As usual nowadays, it comes with endless safety instructions, but really it's very easy to use.

SMOKE=======There are mainly four types of smoke alarm currently on the market – ionisation, optical (also described as photo electronic), heat and combined.Ionisation: The cheapest but sensitive to small particles of smoke. They can also be over-sensitive near kitchens.Optical: These are more expensive but more effective at detecting larger particles of smoke. They are less likely than ionisation alarms to go off when toast is burnt.Heat Alarms: They detect the increase in temperature from a fire and are insensitive to smoke. They can therefore be installed in kitchens.Combined Optical Smoke and Heat Alarms: Combinations of optical and heat alarms.THIS ONE========It's a battery operated smoke alarm so is easy to install in seconds. It has a small footprint so when I replaced the last fire alarm it is a little smaller so I'll need to retouch the paintwork on the ceiling. It looks good. (not pretty) It has so far has been working effectively and well with no false alarms.Gives me peace of mind. Easy to fit too.