DIY: Smoke Detectors

As sure as the sun is to rise, some things in life are just out of our control. On the other hand, fire-related deaths can easily be avoided when taking the necessary steps.

Three of five home fire deaths resulted from fires in a home with no smoke alarms or working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association. A functioning smoke alarm can save lives, so maintaining the quality of your machine is quite literally life-saving.

Here are some tips you can follow so you won’t ever have to be part of this statistic.

Every month: test your smoke alarms. Most smoke alarms come with a test button that will sound the alarm to indicate that it is functioning normally when pressed. If you can’t find this button, you can manually test the alarm by blowing out a candle a few inches away from it and allowing the smoke to rise.

Twice a year: clean your detectors. Doing so will clear the machine of any dust that collects and interferes with the machine’s ability to detect fires. This can simply be done using your vacuum’s upholstery nozzle. It might sound tedious to clean your smoke alarm twice a year, but consider this: 5 minutes cleaning could eventually save your life.

Every decade: replace your detectors. Most smoke alarms are powered with non-replaceable batteries engineered to last for 10 years. After this time, the smoke detector will become less reliable. Newer models have a feature that will chirp to alert you when it’s time for a replacement. Smoke alarms with any other type of battery won’t last as long and may not notify you when the battery is low. These types of smoke alarms should be replaced every year.

Fires can devastating, but they are preventable. We encourage you to take these steps for the safety of you and your family.

Have more questions about maintenance? Contact Butler Electric for assistance.