Monday 9 March 2015

Change your time, change your batteries

As everyone should know by now, Daylight Saving Time is now in effect. Which is a nice way of saying you just go robbed of an hour of sleep. On the weekend no less.

But besides changing the time and maybe losing a little sleep, something else many people do this time of year is change their smoke detector batteries.  Some do it with every time change, some do it with only one.  The important thing is that you do replace them regularly, I would say at least once per year, and test the detectors to make sure they work.

Besides being a darn good idea to have smoke detectors throughout the house, it is also the law in Ontario.  The Ontario Fire Code requires at least one working smoke detector on every level of the home and near sleeping areas, and there are some pretty hefty fines for failing to comply.  Of course, no one is going door to door to inspect, so you could probably get away with it.  But when we're talking about the safety of you and your family, why would you want to?

So, yea, if you haven't already, please...

1)  Change your smoke detector batteries.

2)  Check the smoke detectors to make sure they work.

3)  Check the smoke detectors' expiry dates and replace them if they are passed.

4)  While you're at this safety work, check out any carbon monoxide detectors you have, too.