Maintaining Your Smoke Alarms | PERTH

DFES recommends a few guidelines, which you can follow for the regular maintenance of your smoke alarms:

• Test the smoke alarm every month to ensure that the battery and the alarm are operational.

• Press the button until you hear the alarm go off.

• If you cannot reach there, then you can use a broom handle but you need to be careful as to not to damage the smoke alarm.

• Every six months, vacuum your smoke alarm.

• Use a surface-insect spray to prevent insects from nesting around. Cover the smoke alarm while you are spraying to ensure that the spray doesn’t go there.

• Do not cover or paint over the smoke alarms.

• You might have to replace the smoke alarm battery every year. Some smoke alarms come with non-replaceable batteries that come with a manufacturer’s warning.

• You need to replace your smoke alarms at the interval of 10 years.

Things you need to know about Smoke Alarms:

• A chirp or a beep in your smoke alarm is a sign that the battery of smoke alarm is low or faulty. You need to check the manufacturer’s instruction before you change the battery. (Side note: The chirp may indicate  that the smoke alarm is contaminated.)

• If the chirp or beep continues to exist, even after you have replaced the battery, then the smoke alarm should be replaced because it is faulty and not in a working condition.

• For every installation or replacement of a smoke alarm, you need to hire a licensed Perth electrician or electrical contractor. The maintenance work can be done by an adult.

• If there’s a power outage in mains then the smoke alarms might give a low battery warning.

• Once the mains power is restored, the rechargeable batteries need a few days. If the smoke alarms do not have a rechargeable battery, then you need to replace the battery. You can check with the manufacturer to see whether the battery needs to be replaced or if it will be recharged.