Smoke alarms are important to the safety of your whole family and home when it comes to fires. Making sure that your smoke alarms are maintained and tested regularly is of the utmost importance. If you fail to do this and one of them isn’t working you risk allowing your whole home to become engulfed in flames. The following information will tell you how to properly check and maintain your smoke alarms.

Tell the people in your home that you are performing a smoke alarm test and encourage them to participate. Have other people stand throughout the house to tell you if they can hear the smoke alarms going off or not. You just need to go to each alarm and use something sturdy to reach the button to hold it for a few seconds. Once this is done the alarm will be triggered. If it doesn’t go off you may need to replace it.

Use an aerosol smoke detector tester in order to test the sensors on the alarm. When this is sprayed towards the alarm it should cause it to go off after a few seconds. If nothing happens then you will need to replace your alarm. Also, ensure that your smoke alarm hasn’t accidentally been silenced. Keep the alarm clean of dust to ensure that the sensors can work properly.

Strike matches under the smoke detector about 2 feet underneath. The smoke will drift up and hit the sensors on the smoke alarm causing it to go off. If this doesn’t cause your smoke alarm to go off it will need to be replaced. Replacing alarms right away when you discover they aren’t working properly is important to your own survival as well as your home’s.