And the worst part is, when you tongue test the battery you're replacing, it usually has plenty of juice!

Love your description of life in the house when fire detectors go insane! Been there, done that,laughed in sympathy as you described it. I come from a family of Hobbits,& can NEVER reach the things,& I swear the sound IS physically painful! I wouldn't be surprised to hear that folks do them violence trying to silence the blatting nightmare. And it DOES seem to go off late at night. I can't remember ONE daytime incident! Our cat hated it too! 🌘📣🐱

Honestly, it's a wonder that they haven't been sued into a different design by now. I know I've had a couple of close calls and near accidents because of them. If you don't have a replacement battery and you're up at 3 am in the middle of the night with a unit on the ceiling that won't stop beeping, you're likely to hurt yourself.