Be proactive in protecting your family from a potential home fire
Chirp … Chirp … Chirp. No, that’s not a bird call but the sound of your smoke detector’s battery dying at 2 am or the smoke detector itself. The time has come to replace your old smoke detector or its batteries.
The National Fire Protection Association suggests replacing your smoke detector if it is over 10 years old. An easy way to tell the age of your smoke detector is by looking where the battery is located. In older smoke detectors, the battery compartment is located on the back of the unit. To change the battery, you have to remove the unit from the ceiling and unplug it from the smoke detector. Newer units have the battery compartment on the front of the unit, which no longer requiring you to remove the unit from the ceiling. The manufacturing date is also printed on the back of the smoke detector.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration:
- Three out of five home fire deaths result from fires in properties without working smoke alarms
- More than one-third (38 percent) of home fire deaths result from fires in which no smoke alarms are present
- The risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors are now required in new homes and when you do any major renovation work to your home. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that kills about 400 people a year according to the CDC.
Today’s building codes require that 120 volt smoke detectors, with battery backup, be installed in each bedroom, hallways within 10 feet of a bedroom door. Also, carbon monoxide smoke detector combo units have to be installed in the main living space of a home such as the living room and on each habitable floor (including any finished attic space and unfinished basement). These units are to be wired so that if one unit is triggered, then all units will alert to the potential hazard.
Until the end of October, McCauley Electrical Service is offering a special on replacing existing smoke detectors for $35 each and carbon monoxide smoke detector combo units for $60 each. For talking combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that will tell you if it is a smoke or carbon monoxide hazard, those units are at an additional cost. For this offer, my trip charge will be reduced to $25 from $50.
Call (678) 324-3117 or email us to schedule time to get your smoke detector replaced.