DO NOT BE AN STATISTIC: Fall back but check your Smoke Detectors first!

Smoke Detectors are your life safety equipment
DO NOT BECOME A STATISTIC

Smoke Detector placement guide

The NFPA, recommends that home-owners replace smoke detector batteries with a new battery at least once per year, when it starts chirping (a signal that its charge is low), or when it fails a test, which the NFPA recommends to be carried out at least once per month by pressing the "test" button on the alarm.

While changing batteries check the expiration date of the smoke detector if detector has passed expiration date, install fresh batteries and replace at installed location. Replace with new Smoke Detector as soon as possible.

 The NFPA strongly recommends the replacement of home smoke alarms every 10 years.
Smoke alarms become less reliable with time, primarily due to aging of their electronic components, making them susceptible to nuisance false alarms.

Regular cleaning can prevent false alarms caused by the build up of dust or other objects such as flies, particularly on optical type alarms as they are more susceptible to these factors.

 A vacuum cleaner can be used to clean ionization and optical detectors externally and internally.

 DO NOT USE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES: Common NiMH and NiCd rechargeable batteries have a high self-discharge rate, making them unsuitable for use in smoke detectors.

Pictured: Photoelectric smoke detector,
with strobe light for the hearing impaired

DO NOT BE AN STATISTIC: It is estimated that any given time over 30% of these alarms don't work, as users remove the batteries, or forget to replace them.

 In 2004, NIST issued a comprehensive report that concludes, among other things, that "smoke alarms of either the ionization type or the photoelectric type consistently provided time for occupants to escape from most residential fires", and "consistent with prior findings, ionization type alarms provided somewhat better response to flaming fires than photoelectric alarms, and photoelectric alarms provided (often) considerably faster response to smoldering fires than ionization type alarms".

 NEED HELP?: Call your local Fire Department, they will assist you with any specific questions you may have or assist you in testing, and in many communities your local firefighters will supply smoke detectors and install them at no cost.