Smoke Detector Stays Charged

If you’re the type of person who forgets to replace your smoke-alarm batteries, you might consider the innovative G2 Smoke Detector, which doesn’t need replacement batteries.

The small, simple G2 alarm screws into a light socket and gets its power from the home’s electrical current. You then put a 60-watt light bulb in the detector’s base, which charges the alarm’s internal battery each time the light is turned on. It will then hold a charge for about six months.

“This fills a void for those who are not inclined to maintain their smoke detectors,” says Clyde Bragdon, a retired chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and former U.S. fire administrator who evaluated the G2.

The sole limitation of G2, Bragdon says, is that it works only in a ceiling-mounted single-bulb fixture or in a ceiling-mounted bent-glass fixture. You can’t use it in a hanging lamp or a closed globe.

If the G2’s battery gets low, the alarm let you know by chirping every 40 seconds for seven days. The device, approved by the National Fire Protection Assn. and listed by Underwriters Laboratories, lasts about six years.

In the Los Angeles area, you can find the G2 Smoke Detector ($19.95) at Home Club, Home Depot, Home Builders Outlet, Lumber City, Payless Drugs, Ralphs stores, Golden West Industrial Supply in Chatsworth and Santa Barbara Home Improvement. Hammacher Schlemmer offers the device at its nationwide stores or through its catalogue, (800) 543-3366.

If you can’t find the G2 in your area, contact Generation 2 Inc., 10777 Barkley St., Suite 105, Overland Park, Kan. 66211; (800) 788-1518.

Straight From the Mouse’s Mouth

Disney’s new Mickey Mouse watch is great fun and should appeal to both children and adults, as it displays the time vocally and digitally.

In fact, the Mickey Mouse Talking Time Wristwatch speaks the time in four different ways when you press his two gloved hands. And it even sounds a lot like Mickey’s familiar voice. Just below the chin on Mickey’s 3-D face is the digital display.

The Talking Time watch ($29.95) weighs only 8 ounces, but it is a bit bulky. It also has a talking alarm capacity and comes with long-life batteries and one-year warranty. In Southern California, it’s available at Bullock’s, JC Penney, the Disney Store, Service Merchandise, Spencer Gifts, Toys ‘R’ Us and Woolworths.

If you can’t find it in your area, contact its manufacturer, Sounds Fun Inc., 8841 Wilbur Ave., Northridge, Calif. 91324; (818) 855-6102.