Two of the most prominent dangers in any home are smoke and carbon monoxide (CO). In order to protect yourself, and your family, you need to install and maintain CO detectors and smoke alarms. Both of these products continuously scan the air in your house to detect if there is any smoke or CO present; if so, they will sound a blaring alarm. However, they can only do this when operating correctly, which means you must take care of them.

Maintaining Your Alarms

While CO and smoke alarms are both designed and built to be robust, it is still possible for a component to malfunction. The only way you can know if this happens is to test them regularly. It is recommended that you test all units at least once a month to make sure they are in working order.

You should also vacuum or dust the outside of your smoke alarms at least once per year. This will remove any dust or debris that could affect the function of the sensors in your alarm.

Replacing Your Batteries

Depending on the individual smoke alarm or CO detector you will have to follow different guidelines for replacing the batteries. Many smoke alarms in particular are either hardwired into your home or have 10-year batteries, which typically last the lifetime of the unit. For other smoke alarms with standard life batteries, you should replace them once a year.

There is much more variety in CO detectors, which means that you will need to refer to your specific manufacturer’s instructions for battery care advice.

Replacing Your Detectors

Smoke alarms should be replaced every 8 to 10 years, regardless of type. Past this point the likelihood of a malfunction rises dramatically. CO detectors wear out even faster, and should be replaced every 5 to 7 years. Given that CO detectors are relatively new, there have been significant improvements made in even the last 5 years.

If you have any questions about CO detectors and smoke alarms in your Sharonville area home, feel free to contact the experts at Tri-County Heating & Cooling.

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