It’s that time of year again, time to fall back. This Halloween after you’ve given out the last piece of candy and tucked in your ghosts and goblins for the night, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour because November 1 marks the first day of Daylight Savings Time.
In addition to changing your clocks back, it is also a good idea to replace the batteries in all of your smoke detectors. Making sure you have smoke detectors in good, working order is one of the most important things you can do to keep your home, and everyone in it, safe.
Here are six tips for proper smoke detector installation, use and maintenance – courtesy of the National Fire Protection Association.
- Install a smoke detector both inside and outside each bedroom.
- Make sure you have detectors on every level of your home, including the basement. If you own a large home, you should install multiple detectors on each floor.
- Consider using interconnected smoke detectors. That way if one goes off, it triggers the others as well.
- Test every smoke detector once a month by pressing the test button to make sure it’s working.
- Your smoke detectors should be installed either on the ceiling or high up on a wall. It’s best to keep them away from kitchens to reduce false alarms. Ideally, you should not have a detector any closer than 10 feet to the stove.
- Replace all smoke detectors every 10 years.
Fires can be devastating, and it is best to take whatever steps you can to prevent one in the first place. However if your home or business does suffer a fire, it is critically important to hire a team of experts who can act fast to address any fire or smoke damage as soon as possible. Octagon Cleaning & Restoration are the leading fire and smoke restoration experts in Northern New England. If you need help recovering from a fire, call our team at (207) 893-0002 in Maine or (603) 239-2100 in New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts.