If you’ve never been to woot.com, you’re missing out. They sell only one thing a day, usually something quite geeky, accompanied by wonderfully funny descriptions. It’s worth it for the humor, but occasionally we actually buy something. A while back they sold a 3-pack of rechargeable smoke detectors that screw into light bulb sockets.
Cool, huh?
Well, not so cool in real life. Turns out that the detector can’t be in a fixture that’s not in a ceiling, or it’s ‘upside down’ and won’t work. It also can’t be in a fixture with a cover because 1) the thing is ginormous and 2) it will render it useless. We only have a spot for one, and its only possible location is the top of the basement steps.
So, the long and short of it is: These are amazing smoke detectors if you live in a creepy abandoned warehouse that has bare bulbs for lighting. Oh, I forgot to say that you have to charge it for two hours a week (with a 12-hour initial charge) or it will chirp like a giant mutant bird that won’t die. Awesome.
The plus side? The box they came in made an excellent alligator head for our circus.