10 Year Smoke Alarms...how to determine?

[doxology]

Trying to determine how I can ascertain if a smoke detector is of the new, 10 year sealed battery variety.  I've looked at them in stores; and images online...& they seem to have their own distinct slim profile look. But aside from that, are there any distinguishing features or markings/identifications to look for?  (one would think that the industry would do just that for something this important...provide some sort of marking/identification).

thanx,
 

dox
Insurance Inspector


 

[Jim Katen]

You have to remove it to know for sure. Many of them say on the front, but the rest say on the back. Also, if there's no battery compartment, that's a pretty good indicator. The other benefit of removing them is that you can then see the manufacture date on the back and call out when they're more than 10 years old.