Play It Safe
Safety first—always. A properly installed and tested home fire alarm is one of the simplest, most effective things you can do to protect yourself, your home and your family from a home fire. Here’s how to make sure your system is up, running—and there to keep you safe:
- Change the batteries once every year. Daylight savings time is a great annual reminder—or, choose any other annual holiday that will help you remember it’s time.
- Check the manufacturer’s instructions for changing the batteries in your specific smoke detector model.
- Open the battery compartment, remove the old battery.
- Install the new battery and close the battery door.
- Test the smoke detector by using the test button.
- If false alarms happen often, try moving your smoke alarm away from the kitchen.
- Never, ever turn off your smoke detector. You might forget to turn it back on.
The basics: Change your batteries annually, test your alarm occasionally, and keep it on at all times.