Kidde has been making residential safety alarms for decades. This plug-in carbon monoxide detector solves a specific problem: it keeps working when the power goes out. The 10-year lithium battery backup means you don’t have to remember to swap batteries twice a year. That matters because CO is colorless and odorless, and a power outage often means you’re running a generator or heater that could produce the gas.

The electrochemical sensor detects CO at low levels and triggers an 85-decibel alarm plus a voice alert that tells you the danger. That voice is useful in a panic situation, especially if someone in the house is hard of hearing. The digital LED display shows real-time CO concentration, so you can see if levels are rising before the alarm sounds. Setup takes 10 seconds: plug it into a standard wall outlet, press the test button to confirm it works, and you’re done.

One honest limitation: it’s a plug-in unit, so it won’t work in rooms without an outlet near the ceiling or wall. Kidde recommends placing it at least 15 feet from fuel-burning appliances to avoid false alarms. The test-hush button lets you silence nuisance alerts quickly, but the detector resets automatically after a few minutes. For the price, this is a set-and-forget device that covers the most common failure point in home CO detection.