When we moved into our new abode 2-1/2 months ago, we were told we had to have smoke detectors and that there were none in the duplex apartment.
Well, upon looking around we found that not only did it have smoke detectors but that were three of them.
So one early morning . . it's always early in the morning isn't it . . one of them began chirping.
We've learned that that means the battery is going down.
So we replaced the batteries in all three of them and they still chirped.
So we found a guy who does all kind of work and he came and did a couple of projects and then we asked him to take a look at the smoke detectors.
He couldn't stop them from chirping and said since they had probably been installed when the house was built . . twenty-some years ago . . they had outlived their usefulness.
He said they can just quit working after ten years or so.
And he had a good solution: new smoke detectors of a type that just stick on the wall or ceiling with some kind of adhesive.
Easy-peasy.
So I ordered three of them from a local store and then picked them up.
Today I ripped open one of the packages and found that they did not have some kind of adhesive backing.
What they had was a detailed instruction sheet and two rather long screws.
Well, I have fixed things over the years and I have a plethora of tools, a number of which I gathered to take on this project.
That's what my building super is for. They switched out for a new detector last fall.
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, last night, at around 1am, one I'd discarded, put on the front porch to take to the garbage, started the beeping...I first, not knowing where the faint beeping was coming from, thought it was from my CPAP..after a half hour, turning it off finally, knew that wasn't it. Two hours later, the source was found. Not a good night's sleep.
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DeleteThat is a job I did a few months ago but having a drill with a screwdriver bit makes it a lot easier. One of our old ones had started beeping at 3 am. There is always something.
ReplyDeleteRemember to buy batteries a little before Thanksgiving, next year, unless you get lucky the new batteries last a bit longer.
ReplyDeleteI saw a 10 year smoke detector. No batteries for 10 years! At Costco. I have on my calendar to replace every 6 months but they still go off in the middle of the night!
ReplyDeleteThe last time I needed to have smoke detectors installed I found out the local fire station would send someone to do it for me.
ReplyDeleteI hate those things! Of course they could save your life so you do need to keep them operational. I have to open windows and run the oven fan when cooking bacon in the morning, they are very sensitive...still you do need them.
ReplyDeleteI learned earlier this year that smoke alarms should be replaced every ten years when a nice young man knocked on my door and said he was here to replace the alarm. I said it was tested just last week and works well, he said it's over ten years old and needs to be replaced, which he then did. Hooray for subsidised housing, the cost was covered by the government.
ReplyDeleteI had John replace all of my ancient (26 year old) smoke detectors with the 10 year kind. They were doing the same chirping thing and new batteries didn't help. I was going crazy! (crazier?)
ReplyDeleteI hate it when they go off!
ReplyDeleteOn mine, I had to take the batteries out, being sure they were put back in correctly, and finally the beeping quit. On a couple of them, it took three times for it to work.
ReplyDeleteWe had a beeping smoke detector recently that would not stop making noise. So, we (as in Roger) had to do what you did there. Now I'm wondering if there are detectors with sticky adhesives. That would make things so much easier. Good job, Catalyst!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your home improvements! Hopefully the chirpy ones have meanwhile stopped chirping?
ReplyDelete"I'll think about it tomorrow, at Tara!"
Oh, fiddle dee dee, Oddball! As God is your witness, your smoke detectors will not chirp again.
ReplyDeleteGood lord! I would have taken those back the minute I saw they were not the stick to the wall kind. Which I never heard of until just this minute, mind you.
ReplyDeleteI change the batteries every six months on the day that we change the time on our clocks. It is how I remember to do it. But now you have reminded me that I don't think I changed the batteries when we changed the time in November. Hmmm... Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteMany years ago when I was living in Mesa, my smoke detector went off in the middle of the night and sounded like a fog horn being blown inside the house. I disconnected it and when I got it serviced, they told me that it had accumulated dust which the detector thought was smoke. Good heavens, this is AZ dust is inevitable. I took to reaching up there with the vacuum hose just so it didn't happen again.
ReplyDeleteWe had to replace the batteries in one of ours the other week. It still hasn't made it back on the wall - it's on a shelf sort of nearish where it needs to go. Hopefully that's good enough. Ha!
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