I can’t believe it! I missed Fire Prevention Week this year. James at Nobody’s Listening drew a comic that reminded me to do this post. I know I haven’t done this in a while, but I’m going to remind you to check your smoke detectors. I’m going to try to get ours checked this weekend. It only takes a few seconds to hit that little button on the detector. If it beeps, it’s good. If not, or if the beep sounds funny, replace the battery.
One thing I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned here is the quantity and placement of smoke detectors. Our old house had exactly two smoke detectors, which was obviously enough for us. However, a better idea (and one that is currently in the building codes) is to have one in each bedroom, each hallway near bedrooms, and one in each main common area (we’ve only got one downstairs). Not only are all these detectors on AC power to preserve battery life, there’s an extra conductor that runs between all of them. This links them together so that if one goes off, they all go off. Our old detectors did this too. The only drawback to having them linked together is when you have a false alarm. Having them linked together makes it harder to tell which one caused the alarm. There are detectors available for those of you with older homes that will link together via a wireless signal. This means you can replace your existing detectors, add some new ones, and you don’t have to hire an electrician to link them together!
So, how many detectors do you have? Have you tested them lately?