It’s that time of the year where we “spring forward” an hour in preparation of longer days. Many also take this opportunity to do some necessary spring cleaning around the house. This includes testing your home’s smoke alarms. According to the National Fire Protection Association, roughly two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or that are without working smoke alarms. When smoke alarms should have worked but failed to operate, it is usually because batteries were missing, disconnected or dead.
So how did checking your smoke detector at the same time as daylight savings begin? Prior to 1987 there was a disturbing trend starting to occur- people with smoke detectors were still being caught by surprise when fires occurred in their homes. The culprit were dead batteries in the alarm, unbeknownst to the home owner. The Energizer Battery Company formed an alliance with the International Associates of Fire Chiefs to create the “Change your clock, Change your Battery” campaign. Still in use today, the program reminds us to regularly check our smoke detectors twice a year!
Remember: if your smoke detector has a non-replaceable 10-year guarantee battery, when you hear it chirping- it’s time to replace the entire device. Smoke detectors with any other type of battery (including back up batteries) need a new battery every year. If you hear these chirping, just replace the battery. Regardless, it’s always a good idea to change out your smoke detector in the home every 10 years.