Ok, SIMPLE moms and dads, it’s time for a little confessional here. I have no idea when the smoke detectors in our house received new batteries! Absolutely no idea.
I can take a guess…they are somewhere between 2 (when we moved in) and 28 years old (when our house was built). Yikes!
We just never think about it. At least not until the little “low battery” beep goes off, if it ever does. And, of course, if it does give that little warning, it’s usually at 2am and we’re more likely to pull the battery completely instead of replacing it.
So, this year, as I write out all my Spring Cleaning tasks (it has been a long and brutal winter and I just need to spring clean this house!!!!), I’m adding in big, bold letters to the top of the list — CHANGE SMOKE DETECTOR BATTERIES!
As a matter of fact, I’m jumping on the Spring Forward bandwagon and hoping that Daylight Saving Time will finally serve a legitimate purpose in our house and using it as a reminder to change our smoke detector batteries.
Since it’s recommended that you change your smoke detector batteries every six months and the whole “fall back/spring forward” time change happens about every six months, it’s a natural reminder!
In case you’re not convinced that changing your smoke detector batteries is a big deal, check out these stats on this infographic from Energizer:
“Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected smoke alarms.” Yup, guilty as charged!
Also, did you know you should replace your smoke detectors every 10 years? I figured, once a smoke detector, always a smoke detector! And now I’m adding that to our Spring Cleaning list, too!
So, do yourself a favor this Spring :: crack open a fresh pack of batteries, wipe the dust off those smoke detectors and replace the batteries (and on your carbon monoxide detectors). Daylight Saving Time is hard enough with the messed up sleep schedules with kids! Don’t add to your frustration by being woke up in the middle of the night with that annoying low-battery beep!
* Not sure how to test your Smoke Detector? Check out these steps from AllState.
Are you a faithful battery changer?
Our smoke detectors are hard-wired to our house and don’t require batteries, so I thought I could forget about this. But then I realized that we have carbon monoxide detectors that definitely need the batteries replaced. Thank you for this important reminder!