Home Care Tips and Tools: Smoke Detector Tips

A properly installed and tested home fire alarm is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to protect yourself and your family from a home fire. To make sure your smoke detector is fully functioning year round, change the batteries annually. Daylight savings time is a perfect time to change them every year, and follow these simple tips:

• Check the manufacturer's instructions for changing batteries in your specific model of smoke detector.
• Open the battery compartment to remove the old battery.
• Collect the new smoke alarm batteries and close the battery door.
• Test the smoke detector, normally there is a test button that can be pushed.

If false alarms happen often, move the smoke alarm away from the kitchen. Never turn off your smoke detector, because you might forget to turn it back on.