[jtarrio]

Modern smoke detectors, at least here in the US, have a 10-year sealed non-replaceable battery.

[hn_acc1]

Interesting. We bought a bunch (5 pack, 6 pack?) from Costco IIRC about 3-5 years ago, and they all take 2 AA batteries, which is great because we've doubled down on Eneloop batteries for everything possible..

[sitzkrieg]

every smoke detector i've seen takes a 9volt battery. maybe this is true for commercial units

[Someone1234]

Most of those smoke detectors are old and already passed their 10-year-lifespan. People keep putting 9-volt batteries in them, but they shouldn't.

If you go look at modern smoke detectors, many-to-most, now have a non-replaceable battery for exactly that reason.

[conductr]

Those exist and are still available but are fairly outdated in the US. The sealed lithium 10-year disposable is the newer standard. And, actually, building codes for last several year requires them to be hardwired so no batteries at all.

The landlord special on older construction (maybe >10 years old, can't remember when the hardwire code went into effect) will usually be the 9v. Because they don't care about you having to get on a ladder to change the battery every year. They get to save $5-10 per smoke detector. Practically any homeowner is going to choose the 10 year option as the batteries don't have to be swapped.