If you are like many homeowners, you pay little attention to your smoke detector's battery. You installed the smoke detector, pressed the test button once, then forgot about it until it started chirping at you as a battery replacement reminder some months later. Show Yet the battery in your smoke detector is the vital link between this ordinary yet sophisticated electronic item and the safety of you and your family. Without that battery, the smoke detector is useless. In fact, even a weak battery in a smoke detector may compromise the operation of the detector. Even electric smoke detectors that are wired into a home's electrical system are equipped with a battery backup: This means that, even if power is lost, your family and home are still protected. How Often to Replace a Smoke Detector BatteryYou should always replace your smoke detector battery immediately after it emits a warning beep or a chirp indicating that the battery is low. In addition, most smoke detector manufacturers recommend that you replace the battery at least one time per year. To give yourself an even wider margin of safety, you should replace the battery two times per year, with the changes evenly spaced out. If you live in an area that uses daylight savings time, the change in time can be used as a reminder for replacing the battery. Within one year, replace the battery once when switching to daylight savings time, then replace it a second time when switching back to standard time. Tips for Changing Most Smoke Detector BatteriesLike many people, if you've been changing out batteries for your entire life, you have a good sense of how this is done. So you may rightfully be mystified at some of the peculiar ways that smoke alarm batteries fit into the devices. The purpose of many of these unusual configurations is to create a fail-safe condition. This helps to ensure that smoke detectors are not installed without batteries and that the batteries are inserted correctly.
TipIf the battery is corroded, properly dispose of the entire smoke alarm and purchase a new smoke alarm. How to Replace Most Smoke Detector BatteriesSmoke detectors' battery replacement operations vary, but there are some common features:
How to Replace a Smoke Detector Hardwired With a Backup BatteryThis type of smoke detector receives household current as its main power source and has an onboard battery that is used as a backup in the event of power failure.
Tip10-year sealed lithium-ion smoke detectors' batteries are never replaced. Instead, dispose of the entire unit responsibly and replace with a new unit. All smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years or so, anyway: The manufacture date will be stamped on the back of each unit, so you know when it needs to be replaced. How do I make my smoke detector stop chirping?Resetting the Alarm. Turn off the power to the smoke alarm at the circuit breaker.. Remove the smoke alarm from the mounting bracket and disconnect the power.. Remove the battery.. Press and hold the test button for at least 15 seconds. ... . Reconnect the power and reinstall the battery.. |