I'd like to bump up this old thread again with a question for Phred. My village passed an ordinance that each residence must have a CO detector. No problem, I bought one at the Home Depot and it was easy to put up.

Now for the question ... can I re-hang the existing smoke detector in a different spot? It was there when I bought the unit and I've been testing it and replacing the battery every spring when I put the clock ahead. How long does a smoke detector last, or, is there a way to tell when it stops working? I'd like to put it in the back bedroom because one of my neighbors down the hall uses the laundry room for my floor, which is on the other side of my back bedroom, as her personal smoking lounge when it's too cold to smoke outside. She usually extinguishes her cigarettes by running them under water and then tossing them into the trash can, but I don't want to be taking any chances since I'm in the unit adjacent to the laundry room.

Thanks,
elyse