Making them $200 a pop makes this less likely.
They are safe reliable technology. Convenience features make them less so.
Because we live in a world where some people can’t even operate a toaster.
My smoke detector seems to be working fine, judging from its propensity to go off when I do something in another part of the house that emits smoke, even though it has been here for the 14 years I've owned this house.
The security light over my garage, which is controlled by a light sensor and is on overnight every night, is still on the same bulb it was on when I moved in. Figure an average of 10 hours a day for 14 years and that is 51000 hours.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of bulb it is, other than it is not LED, but all the other possibilities (LPS, HPS, mercury vapor, florescent, metal-halide) should be somewhere in the 12000-24000 hour lifespan range.
My washing machine and dryer are also the ones that came with the house, and are still working fine. They aren't very fancy--if a time warp landed then in a house in the 1960s no one would realize they are from the future--but they get the job done. The washing machine was made in August 2003 and the dryer April 2004 [1].
The heat pump compressor is around 40 years old. I've been told that is about twice as long as they are expected to last.
Other things that came with the house that are still going strong are the well pump, water heater, and all the major kitchen appliances except the fridge. The fridge died a couple years ago or so.
[1] Probably. GE recycles year codes, so all I can say for certain is that the washer was made in one of {2015, 2003, 1991, 1979, or 1949} and the dryer in {2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, or 1950}.
Statistically, you are a very very lucky human.
The replacement cycle of a smoke alarm has a built in safety factor because it was designed by engineers.
If your life was hanging by a rope, you're betting on it's absolute strength not it's rated load.
Smoke alarms are ten bucks a pop at Walmart. You can pick up a CO alarm and a box of waffles while you are there.
Looks like Walmart even has one that is the same brand (First Alert) as my current one and appears to use a compatible mounting plate for $7.67, so should be an easy replacement.
You could replace the cheap detector part and keep the expensive smart part.
Of course the manufacturers would rather have you buy the smart part over and over again. Sounds like a great idea and now they have nothing.
The feature richness is a scam though.
And people who don't proactively replace smoke alarm batteries are unlikely to proactively change the alarms...changing out an alarm is a bigger job than changing batteries.
A smoke alarm is not a consumer product.
Americium-241 has a half-life of 432.2 years, while the recommendation is to replace a detector after only 10 years. But only 1.6% of the Am-241 has decayed after 10 years, so there must be other reasons for the short life span.