Many years ago I needed to replace the smoke alarms in my house, and when I went to the hardware store to buy new ones I bought the ones with the battery backup instead of the A/C-only type which I was removing. I liked the idea of the smoke alarm working even if the power to my house is out. The downside to this type is it will chirp at you when the battery gets low.
I have noticed 2 things regarding this type of smoke alarm. The first is they only chirp at night after you have fallen asleep. Not sure if this is a programmed feature based on the probability that you will be home in the middle of the night verses the middle of the day. It is inconvenient though as you are not dressed to go out and buy new batteries, and the only store open is the local “Quicky Mart” where the 9 volts are real expensive.
The second thing that always happens is all the smoke alarms begin chirping the exact same night! Now this has happened to me multiple times, but what are the mathematical odds of all the batteries getting weak at the same time? The last set of alarms were advertised to have 10 year lithium batteries, and I can’t find the receipt to verify they are 10 year old, but even if they are only 7 or 8 years old, how could the batteries all go bad on the exact same night?
So the moral of this story is that smoke alarms are an important safety feature for your home. The smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) are at least as dangerous as the fire producing them.
Your best chance of survival is before the fire gets too big. I think the battery backup type is good as I have had insureds that had a house fire that began with an electrical problem which shorted the breaker shutting the electricity off. So keep some backup 9 volt batteries for the night your alarms begin chirping at you. Otherwise you will be like me; up in the middle of the night dismantling your smoke alarms because I can tell you that even if you remove the offending battery, the alarm will still chirp.
For more homeowner’s insurance tips, call me at (805)985-5488 or email me at joliver@farmersagent.com
I have noticed 2 things regarding this type of smoke alarm. The first is they only chirp at night after you have fallen asleep. Not sure if this is a programmed feature based on the probability that you will be home in the middle of the night verses the middle of the day. It is inconvenient though as you are not dressed to go out and buy new batteries, and the only store open is the local “Quicky Mart” where the 9 volts are real expensive.
The second thing that always happens is all the smoke alarms begin chirping the exact same night! Now this has happened to me multiple times, but what are the mathematical odds of all the batteries getting weak at the same time? The last set of alarms were advertised to have 10 year lithium batteries, and I can’t find the receipt to verify they are 10 year old, but even if they are only 7 or 8 years old, how could the batteries all go bad on the exact same night?
So the moral of this story is that smoke alarms are an important safety feature for your home. The smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) are at least as dangerous as the fire producing them.
Your best chance of survival is before the fire gets too big. I think the battery backup type is good as I have had insureds that had a house fire that began with an electrical problem which shorted the breaker shutting the electricity off. So keep some backup 9 volt batteries for the night your alarms begin chirping at you. Otherwise you will be like me; up in the middle of the night dismantling your smoke alarms because I can tell you that even if you remove the offending battery, the alarm will still chirp.
For more homeowner’s insurance tips, call me at (805)985-5488 or email me at joliver@farmersagent.com
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