If you live in the UK, you will have smoke alarms in your home. These are a fire safety system that will help to save your life in case of a fire. However, this will only be possible if they are working. This is why domestic smoke alarms should be regularly tested and serviced. But you may be wondering how often domestic smoke alarms should be serviced. That’s what we look at in this blog post.
Here at Jensen Security and Fire Systems, we recommend that domestic smoke alarms should be tested at least once a month. It doesn’t take a lot of time to test your smoke alarm at home. That few minutes it takes to test the alarm once a month, could give you the vital warning and time for you and your family to escape the home quickly if there was a fire. The few minutes you take every month to test your smoke alarm could be the difference between life, serious injury and even death.
It’s really simple to test your smoke alarm at home. You will see a button on the front middle of the smoke alarm. You just need to press your finger down on this button. If the alarm fails to trigger and no alarm sounds, it is faulty. The first thing you can try to do is replace the battery. It could just be a dead battery. If replacing the battery doesn’t work, you made need to replace your smoke alarm.
If you have battery operated smoke alarms in your home, you should aim to replace the batteries within them every year. Some batteries will last longer. However, many smoke alarms will lose their charge and may only be working sub-optimally without you knowing. For peace of mind, we recommend an annual battery change. This way you know that if there was a fire, your smoke alarm won’t let you down.
Wherever possible, set yourself a habit of checking the fire alarm on a regular monthly basis. This could be the last weekend of the month for example. Maybe it could be your monthly pay day, or the day you meet with friends every month. This regularity of testing your smoke alarm could be what saves your life.
If your smoke alarms are over 10 years old, we would also recommend that they are replaced. Smoke alarms should be replaced at least once a decade. This will ensure that they are kept in optimal condition and good working order.
Need new domestic smoke alarms installed in your home? Call our domestic fire safety team now to see how we can help.
