Snattlerake
Member
- Location
- OKC
I am a retired low voltage technician and I want to remind all of you to replace your smoke detector batteries at the beginning of every year. It sure beats getting annoyed at the chirp at three o'clock in the morning telling you about a low battery. Ask me how I know.
Some more information you may not know about. CO or Carbon Monoxide detectors have a shelf life of 5 to 7 years. After that, they may give false alarms or worse, no alarm.
Even the commercial CO/smoke detectors have the same shelf life.
If you have an alarm system that the smoke detectors are connected to, PLEASE check to see if the system is monitored and if it is, call the monitoring company and tell them you are replacing batteries in your detectors, and want to put the system on test. Replace the batteries then test the devices by the proper procedure using the button provided on the detector. Then call the alarm company back and ask them if they received the signals. If they did, you are good to go for another year. If not, call your alarm technician. The Simplisafe system I have at the house for some reason dumps all my smoke detectors from the device list when I get an update for the system. I'm still fighting them about it.
Here is a pro tip, put the system on test, pull off the cover of a detector and check which battery you will need making sure all the detectors are the same. If there are any that are different, check those for their battery type. I never liked to do a half of a job because I didn't have enough or the wrong battery. Some smoke detectors are hardwired to the alarm system and do not have batteries. The alarm system then provides the battery backup. If you do not have a regular service tech for your alarm system, it is easy to check the voltage on the battery using a Volt Ohm Meter or voltage tester. Before opening any alarm system cabinet, CALL the monitoring company to prevent the boys in blue or red from showing up and in some places a hefty fine.
Some more information you may not know about. CO or Carbon Monoxide detectors have a shelf life of 5 to 7 years. After that, they may give false alarms or worse, no alarm.
Even the commercial CO/smoke detectors have the same shelf life.
If you have an alarm system that the smoke detectors are connected to, PLEASE check to see if the system is monitored and if it is, call the monitoring company and tell them you are replacing batteries in your detectors, and want to put the system on test. Replace the batteries then test the devices by the proper procedure using the button provided on the detector. Then call the alarm company back and ask them if they received the signals. If they did, you are good to go for another year. If not, call your alarm technician. The Simplisafe system I have at the house for some reason dumps all my smoke detectors from the device list when I get an update for the system. I'm still fighting them about it.
Here is a pro tip, put the system on test, pull off the cover of a detector and check which battery you will need making sure all the detectors are the same. If there are any that are different, check those for their battery type. I never liked to do a half of a job because I didn't have enough or the wrong battery. Some smoke detectors are hardwired to the alarm system and do not have batteries. The alarm system then provides the battery backup. If you do not have a regular service tech for your alarm system, it is easy to check the voltage on the battery using a Volt Ohm Meter or voltage tester. Before opening any alarm system cabinet, CALL the monitoring company to prevent the boys in blue or red from showing up and in some places a hefty fine.