That Time of the Year….Change The Batteries In Your Smoke Alarm!
It’s Daylight Savings Time this weekend and that means two things: set your clocks ahead one hour and change the batteries in your smoke detectors. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, about 92 percent of U.S. homes have smoke alarms, but nearly one-third of them have dead batteries or batteries that are being used elsewhere. Functioning alarms cut a person’s chances of dying in a fire by at least half. The Fire Administration reports that 65 percent of reported home fire deaths in 2000-2004 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. National statistics also show that an estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms. What does this all mean? Take the time this weekend to thoroughly inspect all of your smoke/carbon monoxide alarms and make sure they each have fully charged and operating batteries. If they don’t, make it a priority to remedy that. Your families life could very well end up depending on that.
Trying to make it as easy as possible for people to stay safe, the U.S. Fire Administration has been making the connection between Daylight Savings and checking batteries in smoke alarms for years. It’s a clever correlation, and one that could go a long way in reducing the amount of annual home fire deaths in the United States. In standard type battery powered smoke alarms, the batteries need to be replaced at least once per year and the whole unit should be replaced every 8-10 years. In hard-wired, battery back up smoke alarms, the batteries need to be checked monthly, and replaced at least once per year. The entire unit should be replaced every 8-10 years. Do some research to find out which batteries will last the longest and remain dependable.
Category: Battery News, Battery Resources
