This daylight-saving time, change both your clock and your batteries

Taking a few minutes to replace your smoke alarm batteries could save your life, writes Chief Andrew Zvanitajs

Thestar.com
Nov. 5, 2021
Andrew Zvanitajs

Change your clock, change your batteries.

For years, fire departments have used that phrase to remind citizens to replace the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and test them when the clocks change in the spring and fall.

Our clocks go back on Nov. 7. Will you remember to change your batteries? It’s easy to do and only takes a few minutes. Yet, every year, we attend calls where there is no alarm installed or the alarm is not working.

The best sound we can hear when we arrive at the site of a fire is smoke alarms going off and someone saying, “Everyone got out.”

Smoke and CO alarms give you an early warning that something is wrong so you can safely get outside in the event of an emergency. Without an alarm, people don’t have a chance to escape. And that can have devastating results.

In Ontario, the law requires a working smoke alarm be installed on every level of your home, including the basement and outside all sleeping areas.

A CO alarm must be installed outside of all sleeping areas of homes with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Ideally, you should install a CO alarm on every level of your home.

For the best protection, interconnect all your alarms so when one alarm sounds, they all do.

Where you place your smoke alarms also makes a difference. Smoke rises, so mount alarms on the ceiling or high on the wall -- no more than 12 inches (30 cm) from the ceiling. If you have a pitched ceiling, install the alarm at least four inches down from the peak.

Don’t install smoke alarms near windows, doors or ducts because a draft can interfere with their operation -- so can painting or placing decorations over an alarm.

Keep smoke alarms at least 10 feet (three metres) from cooking appliances to avoid false alarms when cooking.

Once you have your alarms in the right place, it’s vital to maintain them and test them monthly. Check the manufacturer’s instructions for how to clean and when to replace the alarm.

Remember, smoke alarms expire every 10 years, and CO alarms expire every five to 10 years.

This year, after you “fall back” for daylight time, take a few minutes to replace the batteries and test your alarms before an emergency happens. Working alarms save lives.

To learn more about fire safety, visit vaughan.ca/fire.