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I Conquered the Smoke Alarm

9 volt

A year ago, I posted about being jolted out of bed by a piercing noise that was the dying battery of a smoke alarm. Fumbling with a flashlight, heart racing, on the top of a step ladder as my dog shuddered in the corner was an event that I never wanted to replay again. So I followed your advice, marking the date on the calendar a year out, and yesterday morning, as the sunlight streamed in, I replaced the batteries on all 3 alarms. Thanks to you, I feel safe and accomplished.

Discussion

8 comments for “I Conquered the Smoke Alarm”

  1. Karen says:

    They probably don’t need to be changed twice a year, but I change the batteries in my alarms when the clocks change.

    Just a calendar-free tip, from a Luddite who remains smartphone-less, and may not yet have next years’ paper calendar…

    • wendy says:

      Karen, I’ve heard of that strategy, and that does make it easy to remember. But I’m going to stick with the once a year plan, for now. I’m also investigating lithium battery powered smoke alarms that don’t need to be replaced for 10 years.

  2. spiffi says:

    A few months after I moved into my house, I was woken up by an incessant chirping. I tracked it down to the smoke detector in the hallway – removed it from the ceiling and ripped it open to remove the battery.
    The $*%& thing kept chirping – apparently it had some internal charge? I was DEEPLY angry at 3am.

    The next day I replaced all the alarms in my house with new ones with 15 year lithium battery ones!

    • wendy says:

      From what I understand about the lithium battery operated smoke alarms, you have to replace the whole unit. Is that true?

  3. Leyla says:

    Good for you for doing the responsible thing! Better than waking up to a fire! I hate waking up to the sound of a leak pipe. I get panicked about water damage and it seems like such a headache to fix.

  4. Izzybell says:

    haha- I have had the exact thing happen to me and I currently have had the alarm sitting without a battery on my dresser for months!

    Inspired by this post, this weekend I’m going to replace the battery and reinstall the alarm. For some reason it made me happy to read that someone else had been woken up in the middle of the night to this terrifying sound : )

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