Is your smoke alarm chirping like crazy? We've been hearing from lots of people about this problem, so we looked into it for you.
The chirping might be because your smoke alarm is hardwired to the electrical system in your home. So, when the power goes out, your smoke alarm uses a 9-volt battery as a back-up power source. If the 9-volt battery installed in your smoke alarm is dead, or if the battery is dying, a chirping sound will come from your smoke alarm.
The remedy is to replace the dead or dying battery with a 9-volt battery that works. Don't just remove the battery to stop the chirping, says Liz Monforti, a spokesperson for Palm Harbor Fire Rescue in Florida.
"I'm not an advocate of removing batteries from smoke detectors. Even though a battery is causing a smoke detector to chirp, it could still have enough juice left in it to keep the smoke alarm working," she said.
No doubt, trying to find a 9-volt battery after a major storm like Sandy is not easy.
So now we're calling on you, our fellow members of the community. Do you have any extra 9-volt batteries that you can spare? Maybe we can start a Patch reader exchange to help each other out?
If you have any extra 9-volt batteries that you would like to share with other members of the community, let us know in the comments section below. Please include a way that you can be contacted!
