Cavius Thermal Heat Alarm product reviews

I live in an old house. It is so old that the roof blew away in a storm a few years ago and I had to get a new one! And being an old house, it comes with an old-fashioned fireplace, and absolutely everything is made of timber. I have always been aware that, should it ever catch fire, it would be a disaster so when I moved in I ensured I had working smoke alarms.

Yes, well... they are fine until you make toast. Or light the fire and there is a little bit of smoke when the timber starts to catch. Or light an incense stick or scented candle and watch the smoke curling up to the ceiling. Then it is out with the tea towel or the broom and a lot of frantic flapping ensues while you slowly go deaf with the racket.

So imagine my delight to find out that there is a new product on the market - a Thermal Heat Alarm with a sensor that reacts to extreme temperatures rather than smoke. Bliss! I tested it out tonight by making some toast and deliberately letting it burn. Not a squeak was heard - the old smoke alarms have been moved right away from the kitchen area and now live by the bedroom doors, out of reach of everyday smoky events. As for the new Thermal Heat Alarm, it ignored the toast and stayed beautifully quiet.

I tested the alarm (as instructed) once I had installed it and the noise was so loud I nearly fell off the ladder. I did drop the screwdriver; luckily I did not hit anyone. The volume was much louder than that made by the smoke alarms and would definitely wake anyone in the house, and most likely the neighbours as well - so in terms of a safety feature, that is great.

I did have one issue with installing the base. It would be really helpful if manufacturers included the drill bit size needed to make the holes in the ceiling for the fittings. Or even better, included a drill bit with the instructions - I have seen this done with other products, and it is such a useful idea. When you are up a ladder trying to drill holes in a high stud, it is tricky if you don't get them just the right size.

The cost is not too bad when you consider that the unit has a ten year battery. After that you have to buy a new unit as the batteries are not replaceable, but it is a small cost to pay for peace of mind. I replace the batteries in my smoke alarms once a year and each new battery costs the better part of ten dollars, so over the ten years my new friend will certainly pay for itself. And as a bonus, it is so small you hardly notice it on the ceiling.

I was recently sent a Cavius heat sensor alarm to review from KIWIreviews. Initially I was a bit worries about doing the review: would I be able to review it well without it going off naturally, and then of courss the hoping like heck it does not go off naturally anytime soon :) I feel it is important to stress that this is NOT a smokd detector but it IS in fact a heat sensor. A smoke detetctor senses smoke, while this senses heat over a certain temperature making it ideal for kitchen, garage, workshop etc.

I am sure we have all experienced those moments where the smoke alarm closest to the kitchen goes off several thousand times a month, more often during the moments of cooking ;) lol In my home the kitchen, dining, living room are all kinda open plan..Well they are open plan with a partial wall that has an old coal range built into it in the middle. I set the smoke alarm that is set up in the living room off most times I cook. My boys who make eggs regularly for breakfast also set the smoke alarm off daily and its not always an eazy feat resetting it to stop. Sometimes weve had to remove the smoke detectors battery.

So, naturally I was super excited about the Cavius heat sensor, and installing it in the kitchen/dining area.
This heat sensor is super funky and stylish looking. I know this may seem like an odd thing to say, and looks should never matter when it comes to ones safety, but hey truth is looks do matter and some smoke alarms can really look quite hideous in a newly decorated room. Not the cavius heat sensor though. Its stunning. Almost beautiful lol

Its small a dainty, not even a quarter the size of standard smoke detector. its lean and very modern and clean looking and would fit into pretty much any decor or theme. And then theres effectiveness. Granted it did not go off naturally, but we did set it off to see how it was. I can say I feel it would be very effective in bringing attention to excessive heat if the sensor was set off. its extremely loud. And yet not the same piercing noise the smoke detector makes but still extremely loud.

The $60 odd dollar price range may put some people off but stop and think: the sensor is for areas that are hugh risk but often unprotected by alarms, such as the kitchen. It has a 10 year battery life. Yes yiu read that orrectly...10 years!! Most smoke alarms need new batteries yearly, sometimes more than once. They do not use a small AA battery either so replacement batteries are not cheap. A kitchen aeea smoke alarm has tbe potential to go off much more than any alarm if placed to close to kitchen. So over 10yrs a regular smoke alarm could cost you in excess of $100. A cavius heat sensor is almost half that price. Definitely worth its $60 price tag.

So, although to date we have not had this little beauty go off naturally, we have set it off ourselves. Its loud and effective. It is super easy to install. Is modern in looks and would fit any decor. It is small and lean, and definitely not an eye sore. Has a 10year battery life. Is perfect for those high risk areas that are often unprotected such as the kitchen. It is most definitely worth every cent and I would recommend investing in one or more. Weve had it for a couple weeks now and no more alarm going off while cooking, as our regular smoke alarm has been moved furtber from the kitchen end of room.

Last year I was talking to my electrician about a number of improvements I would like to do to our home. I asked him if he thought it was worth getting smoke alarms hooked up to the mains. His response was "Often in a fire the power goes out and then those smoke alarms don't work. The best smoke alarms are the tiny Cavius ones as the battery lasts for ten years." This really got me thinking that I should look into the Cavius ones more.

A couple of weeks ago our girls were in bed and they came out to tell us the smoke alarm outside their room went off. We could hardly tell them to ignore it and go to sleep. Thankfully I had a spare 9 volt battery and I was able to replace it and we got a peaceful night's sleep. It I hadn't have had one we would have been left with 2 options: a chirping smoke alarm that kept us awake or pull the alarm down so we have silence and risk having no warning of a life threatening fire. This was when I started doing the maths: $60 for a Cavius alarm that has a battery that lasts for at least ten years, compared to a regular smoke alarm $15(which would probably only last 5 years before expiring) plus 2 9v batteries a year at $8 each. the Cavius is definitely better value and we don't have the hassle of changing batteries regularly.

The thermal heat alarm says it is not a smoke alarm but instead detects a change in temperature. The instructions said to put it on the kitchen roof. I had always been told not to put a smoke alarm in the kitchen because it gives too many false alarms. I installed it while my husband was out and the kids were busy so no one noticed until I tested it. Miss 5 asked what the noise was and then struggled to find our new alarm.

In the three weeks we have had the alarm installed it has not gone off, but neither has the old smoke alarm we have outside the kitchen door. There has also never been a time that I thought it should have gone off. I love the look of it. We remodeled our kitchen earlier this year so it is great to have a product that fits our modern room. The picture shows how small and discreet the Cavius alarm is compared to a regular smoke alarm.

My verdict having tried this is to buy some of their other products for each bedroom and the lounge. It is a small price to pay for a product that will keep my family safe.

A couple of months ago we where driving home from being out for dinner and we witnessed a house completly engulfed in flames. It had started in the kitchen with an element that had been left on and no one was aware of this because the kitchen was at the back of the house. By the time they knew it was too late and the whole house was up in flames, subsequently the owner also got burnt and the dog lost its life. Since then this has been one of my biggest fears.

Our kitchen is in the middle of our house with the lounge on one side and the other is the dining room. We have a smoke detector in the dining room and also one off the lounge but I have always wanted something for the kitchen. But honestly I never thought it was possible to get something because it would be going off everytime I opened the oven - so when I read about this I knew I just had to try it.

The best thing about this is it is not a smoke alarm but a heat alarm so will not start beeping unless there is significant heat. My husband was a little worried placing it near the oven until he sat down and read the instructions/phamlet. We decided to put above the sink and the dishwasher which is basically in the centre of the kitchen.

Pushing the test button it let of a little racket and I just had to have a little play. I put the element on full and put a little water on it so it would get smokey I placed the unit over the element and was getting a little concerned as my fingers where starting to warm up before it finally let up its alarm, feeling at ease I allowed my husband to place the unit on the roof. It comes with the screws that are required for the base and is easy to put up. Cooking the first time I was a little weary but I am glad to say after a week of cooking like normal we have not had to worry ourselves.

I think the price of $60 is a little steep but when you take in the fact the batteries last for 10 years it actually is not a bad price considering it feels like we are always replacing our batteries for all of the other smoke alarms throughout this house. My other concern is that it states that the heat alarm could activate because of a build up of high humidity condensation, which could be of a concern as we do not have a range hood. Although it seems an easy fix is to just dry the unit out.

I do admit I have felt safer since installing it, not that I ever thought we really would have a fire but just knowing that we have added an extra precaution to alerting us makes me sleep better at night.

With the new laws coming in next year with regard to long-life smoke alarms being necessary when replacing them in rental properties, my husband and I are very keen to know what is on the market. We have our own home and also two rental properties and therefore need to keep our tenants (and ourselves) as safe as possible and up-to-date with the law.

Up to now, we have only had smoke alarms in each of the properties. I was very excited to see that this Thermal Heat Alarm is now available. I am not sure if such thing existed previously but I can definitely see a use for it in our house. I have two young children and at times I can get distracted when cooking. I do my best to put safe guards in place, but there is always the chance that I forget something on the stove. I usually put a timer on in order to remind me that something is on an element!

This unit is very small and tidy looking. It is so much smaller than the old style smoke alarms. In fact, it would hardly be noticeable on a ceiling. Most ceilings are white and the product is white as well. It does point out in the instructions that you are not to paint the device, so if your ceiling is a different colour, you will just have to accept the cute little white alarm on it.

My husband pushed the tester button and I didn't know that he was testing it. I seriously just about jumped out of my skin! It was a very loud shrill sound. It would do the trick perfectly in order to alert our family to a danger in the house.

I read through the instructions and found that it needed to be placed at least 50cm from a wall. It pointed out the places where I shouldn't put it, however I was still a bit unsure about how close to put it to heat sources such as elements and oven. I didn't want it going off just because I was cooking. I think that the instructions could have given me a bit more direction in this regard. I was also a little concerned about the statement in the instructions about issues with the device. If it gets too much humidity, it can go off. I was wondering how it would go in the middle of winter when we are preparing a roast dinner and there is a lot of steam and humidity in the kitchen. Again, I wouldn't want it going off then.

I intended to do a bit of internet research before we finally decided on the position of the alarm. I wasn't able to find anything to help me above and beyond what was in the instructions. We settled on placing it near our light fitting (LED lighting so no heat involved). This made it relatively close to the gas hobs and oven. Obviously with gas hobs, there is a flame. I still wasn't sure how close it could be. I did test it by holding the alarm over the top of the hobs when they were on (not too close of course) and after about 30 seconds it went off. Based on that I think I will be safe with it on the ceiling as there obviously has to be a significant amount of heat to set it off. Hopefully this will eliminate false alarms. I guess time will tell if it is "too" close!!

The fact that is has a 10 year battery life means that you can sit back and not worry about needing to replace it for a long time. It does give warning beeps when it is 30 days away from the battery running out. It is great to have this safe guard and this means that if you have purchased a house with one in, you may not know when it was actually installed.

My husband unpacked the alarm and while he was doing so, he removed the folded sticker which was at the back of the alarm. When I went to look for the date of expiry, I couldn't find it. It was only when I went through the packaging that I found the sticker. I am assuming that that should not be removed as it provides vital information about the expiry, manufacturer etc. It also states on that sticker that the alarm should be tested every month. I wonder how many people do that? We are good at checking our alarms at daylight savings but I am not sure if I would remember every month.

The unit doesn't start to work until it is clicked properly into the base (which is attached to the ceiling). This means that if there is a malfunction, you can remove the unit from the base and it will stop the loud noise. We have recently had one of the 10 year smoke alarms (of a different brand) and it started going off every 15 minutes for no reason. Without an easy removable battery, it was a bit of a worry that it would keep going all the way to the shop while making a loud noise. It is then that we became aware that it would stop working when not secured to the base. It seems this is the same with the Cavius product.

I love the fact this this product is tiny, looks good and reasonably priced for the fact it lasts 10 years. I think that it is an asset to any kitchen and could very well save lives.