Daylight saving time is soon upon us and we will once again hear the reminders to change the batteries in our smoke detectors. Vote Now!
OK, here's my gripe. I think that changing the batteries twice a year is too often. My smoke detectors are wired into the house circuit, so the battery is strictly in case of power failure. I don't know what the shelf life on batteries is, but I would bet it's more than 6 months. I am also diligent about changing them when they are low- the reminder beep drives me nuts.
Here's the dilemma- to the extent that smoke detectors save lives, be sure to have fresh batteries. I can't justify throwing perfectly good batteries into landfills. I live alone (I.e. no kids), so it's only my life on the line, and I prefer to live on the edge.
Anyhow, vote in the poll, check your batteries (don't forget the CO detector), and set your watches. And if you do change your "almost perfectly good" batteries, please, try to use them in some other non-critical device, such as garage door openers, alarm clocks, kids toys, etc.
OK, here's my gripe. I think that changing the batteries twice a year is too often. My smoke detectors are wired into the house circuit, so the battery is strictly in case of power failure. I don't know what the shelf life on batteries is, but I would bet it's more than 6 months. I am also diligent about changing them when they are low- the reminder beep drives me nuts.
Here's the dilemma- to the extent that smoke detectors save lives, be sure to have fresh batteries. I can't justify throwing perfectly good batteries into landfills. I live alone (I.e. no kids), so it's only my life on the line, and I prefer to live on the edge.
Anyhow, vote in the poll, check your batteries (don't forget the CO detector), and set your watches. And if you do change your "almost perfectly good" batteries, please, try to use them in some other non-critical device, such as garage door openers, alarm clocks, kids toys, etc.
