Product review

Updated April 2021

Smoke alarms

We tested 12 models to see which respond fastest to smoke.

April 2018

Goldair

GS-526

Price

$29

Score

Good

Recommended

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Test results

60
Ease of use

More test results

Smouldering fire sensitivity
Good
Flaming fire sensitivity
Good

Model

Avg price
$29
Alarm type
Photoelectric
Noise
93dBA
Battery type
Sealed lithium
Size
Standard

Features

Battery life
10 years
Alarm life
10 years
Warranty
1 year
Hush period
10min
Carbon monoxide alarm
Alarms can be linked
Voice alerts

More info

Notes
-
Availability
-

Member reviews

7 Member reviews

Detectors intermittently triggering

Pros

Well priced and have good sensitivity - always trigger when I burn food in oven or the wood fire releases smoke inside.

Cons

I had a problem with 2 of the three detectors in my house false alarming after a couple of years. I figure they might be getting dust on the sensors so pulled them down and blew them out with compressed air. So far no false triggering since then. Vacuuming them might achieve the same thing - I haven't tried that.

Recommend it?

Maybe, it depends on what you're after.

Andrew H.

08 Aug 2021

Used 6 months or more

Good at first, but with a fatal design flaw

Pros

10 year lifetime, allegedly.

Cons

After approximately 2 years, both units I purchased started sounding intermittently for no apparent reason.

One just failed so badly -- the alarm sounds the moment the hush period (5 minutes) expires until I press the hush button again -- I've had to pry the cover off and sever the link to the battery to shut the thing up.

Given a number of other people are reporting the same fault, and I've had a similar issue in two identical units, I suspect this is a design fault that shows up after a couple of years.

Recommend it?

No, this product has too many drawbacks.

Jonathan C.

28 Jun 2021

Used 6 months or more

Goldair GS-526

Pros

None.

Cons

After 2 years the alarm started going off intermittently in the middle of the night. Had to get the ladder out, remove the alarm and disconnect the battery at 4.00am.

Recommend it?

No, this product has too many drawbacks.

Tim M.

16 Feb 2020

Used 6 months or more

Goldair Gs-526

Pros

Bought 3 a month ago

Cons

The two screws supplied for fixing are not really fit for purpose.
they are a smaller screw 5 or 6 to enable them to fit the smaller space
in the mounting bracket. It is not possible to use larger screws.
The supplied screws will break when screwed into moderately to hard timber.
However the same size screws bought from a hardware store do not.

Recommend it?

Yes, I recommend this product.

Richard C.

13 May 2019

Used 1 month or less

Alarm going off for no reason

Pros

Bought 5 a year ago, 4 seem fine so far.

Cons

One of the five alarms has started going off for no reason. Can turn it off, but then it starts again. And gap between going off is getting shorter each time, from a week or two, to days and now minutes. Difficult to know what to do with it. Cant see how to disable it!

Recommend it?

No, this product has too many drawbacks.

Robert B.

30 Mar 2019

Used 6 months or more

Alarm won't stop

Pros

Nothing

Cons

The alarm keeps activating for no reason and at this stage I am unable to deactivate it. I don't have this issue with other photoelectric alarms in the house and will be replacing it with another brand. As it appears there is no way to stop the alarm I'm going to have to dump it with the alarm going. I'm not going to be able to return it to the retailer - it is too far to drive with an alarm continuously going.

Recommend it?

No, this product has too many drawbacks.

Jean M.

15 Sep 2018

Used 1 - 3 months

Good buy from the supermarket

Pros

Easy to get hold of - bought at our local Countdown supermarket. Looking forward to 10 years battery life.

Cons

Because of the location ours is installed I needed to use a longer screw than the one supplied. The longer screw had a thicker head and as result a the install was more difficult than I expected (initially it wouldn't lock onto the base properly).