Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm tips
Smoke alarms: Why do they matter?
Fire doubles in size every minute. Smoke alarms give you the critical seconds you need if a fire starts in your home.
- Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement.
- Interconnect your home’s smoke alarms. This way, when one sounds, they all sound.
- Teach children the sound of the smoke alarm and to exit the home/building when it sounds.
- Place alarms on the ceiling. If alarms are placed on the wall they must be no more than 12 inches below the ceiling.
- Always follow the manufacturer's recommendations that are included in your alarm's instructions.
- Make sure you test your smoke alarms every month by pressing the test button.
- Even hard-wired alarms need fresh batteries.
- Change your smoke alarm batteries at least once a year. Make a habit of replacing batters each fall and spring during Daylight Saving Time.
Did you know?
- Smoke alarms should be tested monthly.
- Change smoke alarm batteries at least once a year — unless yours have 10-year, sealed lithium batteries.
- Replace all smoke alarms every 10 years. See manufacturer’s date on back of smoke alarm.
- Working smoke alarms cut in half your risk of dying in a residential fire.
Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms: Why do they matter?
Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas so the only way to detect it is with a CO alarm.
- Install CO alarms within 10 feet of each sleeping room or inside each sleeping room.
- Always follow the manufacturer's recommendations that are included in your alarm's instructions.
- Test CO alarms monthly. Replace alarms every five to seven years.
- Change your CO alarm batteries at least once a year. Make a habit of replacing batters each fall and spring during Daylight Saving Time.
- Even hard-wired alarms need fresh batteries.
- If a CO alarm sounds, evacuate immediately and call 911 from outside your home.
- Clear snow and debris from furnace, dryer, fireplace, or oven vents around your home to prevent a CO buildup.
Did you know?
- CO is an odorless, tasteless, and invisible gas.
- Signs of CO poisoning include headache, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and disorientation.
- Cooking and heating units that burn fuel and are not properly ventilated or that malfunction can be a source of CO in the home.