Handyman Tips - When should you change your smoke alarm batteries?

You should change your smoke alarm battery at least once a year. We recommend doing it on New Years Day. If you do it on New Years Day every year then you won't have trouble remember what day you last changed it on. It was on New Years Day.

Really, you can do it on any day of the year as long as you can remember to do it once a year. Having a day that has some meaning that will help you remember is important. New Year, New Battery. That seems like an easy one to remember.

If your smoke alarm is beeping or chirping then the battery needs to be replaced immediately. Many houses have smoke alarms that are hard wired to a power source, but the battery is a backup if the power to the house is not working. The smoke alarm won't detect smoke if it has no power. Make sure the battery is working.

For more information about smoke alarms, check out our Smoke Alarms article. We can also tell you how often you should test your smoke detector.

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