Shawn Mahoney, technical services engineer for the NFPA, shares that smoke alarm placement is equally important. There is typically a date of manufacture listed on the back of an alarm, which should give you an indication when it's time to replace it. Smoke alarms typically reach their end-of-life at 10 years, and the NFPA recommends replacing them entirely at that time.

Many battery-powered alarms do come with lithium-ion batteries that are rated to last for the entire service life of the alarm.

It is recommended by the NFPA that changeable batteries are replaced every six months and alarms tested every month. While invaluable, and a must-have in all homes, smoke detectors are often neglected (until they start chirping!), but you should regularly take the opportunity to test that all your alarms are working, and double check that alarms are positioned everywhere they need to be.Īccording to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), among fires in which smoke alarms were present but didn't operate, 46 percent of those alarms had missing or disconnected batteries. A fire can spread very quickly in your home, but a smoke detector can sense smoke well before you can, alerting you to danger and allowing you and your family enough time to get out safely.

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