Now is the Perfect Time to check your Smoke Alarms

Apr 1, 2019
Categories: Home Insurance · Safety
Staebler blog logo

As we move into spring, homeowners across Ontario are emerging from hibernation and ready to accomplish their springtime tasks. It’s time to fill up the pool, find out what has been nesting in your shed, and perhaps, maybe, actually clean out the garage this year (although let’s not hold our breath!).

While your To-Do list might already look overwhelming, we have one small item to add: Check and change your smoke alarms.

Spring cleaning is the perfect time to make sure your home is up-to-date with fire safety. You’re already going to be breaking out the step ladders to reach up in those dusty, old closets you’ve been meaning to clean out, you might as well use them for one extra job. Take a moment between chores to do something that will meaningfully protect your family and your property for the year to come.

Charge into spring with new batteries

Conventional wisdom when it comes to changing your smoke detector’s batteries is to wait for the warning chirp and do it then. But why wait until the batteries are already drained? When you allow your batteries to get low, you’re only inviting potential issues. Maybe the detector will chirp for a few days while you’re on vacation, and you’ll never realize you’re unprotected when you get home. Or maybe it’s in the basement and nobody notices until the batters are fully depleted. These might not be the likeliest scenarios, but they are possible.

Get ahead of any potential trouble and swap your batteries out now. Make sure to “spring” for quality name brand batteries that you can rely on. That way you’ll know for certain that your detectors are charged up and good to go until at least the winter.

Test them!

Now it’s time to scare the children and annoy the pets with a test alarm (or you could, you know, let them know about it in advance and shoo the dog outside). This is basic due diligence to make sure they are working properly and are suitably loud and powerful enough to get your undivided attention when it matters. Ideally you should be testing your detectors on a monthly basis, but we know how sometimes these things slip. There is no time like the present to get caught up.

This year’s (or decade’s) model

If you notice any problems like a dead test or weak alarm, it’s time to buy a replacement. Hopefully you won’t have any issues with your current smoke detectors, but if you do, this might be a good time to reconsider your home fire safety set up. If you live in an older building or it’s been many years since your fire detectors were installed, it’s likely you’re missing out on some handy upgrades that have become standard features over the past few years.

If you need to replace one or two individual alarms already, consider switching to an interconnected system. This means when one alarm goes off, so do the rest. You might think your home isn’t large enough to need this kind of system, but consider those days when your kids are watching TV or playing noisy games in one room, your spouse is showering or running laundry, and you’re trying to finally catch up on that episode/season/series you missed on the tablet. Are you really likely to hear an alarm in the basement?

This kind of modern system is even more important for things like carbon monoxide detection. Having your upstairs alarms go off when a problem is detected in the basement could save lives.

Even if your alarms still work, consider replacing them if they are over 10 years old. A full decade of service is a lot to ask from any device, but especially one you’re depending on to protect your family.  Upgrade to a newer model with extra features like emergency escape lights to help people navigate during a dark or smoky situation, or an easy push-hush button for those times you accidentally burn the toast.

Spring cleaning is great, but Spring Safety is even more important. Follow the tips above to make sure your smoke detectors are working; charged up, and ready to go, so you can enjoy a worry-free summer!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather In our previous post, we asked this question: How many active users does the social media giant Facebook currently have? Answer: According to online sources, in January 2014, Facebook had 1.23 billion monthly active users. That’s...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

How to Keep Your Driveway Clear in Winter

How to Keep Your Driveway Clear in Winter In our previous post, we asked this question: True or False: Young drivers are most likely to be killed or injured during the winter and least likely to be killed or injured in the summer. Answer: False! The opposite is true....

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Protect Your Credit

Protect Your Credit In our previous article, we asked this question: A recent BMO study revealed that what percentage of Canadians always buy medical insurance before traveling? Answer: 42% of Canadians remain confident that they could cover all their medical costs if...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance In our previous article, we asked a true or false question: True or False: If you switch to a more expensive car or a newer model of vehicle, your car insurance premium may increase. Answer: All things being equal, this is true! You should probably...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Art Insurance

Art Insurance In our last post, we asked the question: According to the 2013 Norton Report, what has the global cost of cybercrime risen to over the past year?  Answer: In the past year, cybercrime?€?s global cost has risen to $113 billion, or just under $300 per...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Home Based Business

Home Based Business Trivia Time In the previous post, we asked the question: According to Statistics Canada, approximately how many vehicles are stolen every day? Answer: Around 400 vehicles are stolen every day in Canada! In fact, by the time you finish reading this...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Business Interruption

Business Interruption Trivia Time In the previous post, we asked the question: According to recent statistics, approximately how many identity theft complaints per month do Canada?€?s largest credit bureaus receive? Answer: Statistical information from Equifax and...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Halloween Safety – For your Cars?

While getting ready for all the trick-or-treating fun this evening, it's a good opportunity for parents and their children to go over good safety practice to make sure that tonight is a fun experience for all.  But, have you thought about your vehicle's safety?  An...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Indepth on Drowsy Driving

TRIVIA TIME: WHICH GROUP OF DRIVERS IS AT GREATEST RISK FOR CRASHES DUE TO DROWSY DRIVING? THINK ABOUT IT... AND COME BACK FOR THE ANSWER IN OUR NEXT POST! You're a good driver, right? You don't text and drive, you check your mirrors often, always wear a seatbelt, and...

read more
Protecting Your Home in Cold Weather

Home Burglary Protection

Property crime represents 35% of all reported crime in Canada. These incidents include breaking and entering, theft, fraud, motor-vehicle theft, and being in possession of stolen goods. Of these property crimes, breaking and entering account for nearly 15% of reported...

read more