Changing Detector Batteries as Clocks are Changed

Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, 11 March. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and area fire service agencies and associations are urging consumers to replace the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms this weekend as the clocks are turned forward.

CPSC estimates there was a yearly average of 386,300 residential fires resulting in nearly 2,400 deaths between 2006 and 2008. Two-thirds of fire deaths occur in homes where there are no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. That is why it is important to replace batteries at least once every year and to test your alarms every month to make sure they work. CPSC recommends consumers have smoke alarms on every level of their home, outside bedrooms and inside each bedroom.

CPSC also estimates there was an annual average of 183 unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths associated with consumer products between 2006 and 2008. CO is called the “invisible killer,” because it is a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas. Because of this, people may not know they are being poisoned. Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning of fuel in various products, including furnaces, portable generators, fireplaces, cars, and charcoal grills.

Background information:

NFPA: Smoke Alarms

National Volunteer Fire Council

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission