Testing your smoke alarms

What to know

1. Count your alarms. You should have one inside each bedroom, one outside each separate sleeping area, and one on every level, including the basement. Source: USFA¹ Missing one? If you rent, tell your landlord in writing.
2. Press and hold the test button. Hold it on each alarm until it sounds, and do this every month. Source: USFA¹ If it's loud and clear, you're done with that one. If it's weak or silent, see "If it doesn't work."
3. Figure out what powers each alarm. There are three kinds. Some run on a replaceable 9-volt battery. Some have a sealed 10-year lithium battery you can't change. Hardwired alarms connect to your home's wiring and usually have a backup battery. Source: USFA¹
4. Change batteries once a year. Replace 9-volt batteries, and the backup battery in hardwired alarms, at least once a year. Source: USFA¹ Sealed 10-year alarms don't get new batteries. You replace the whole alarm when the maker says to.
5. Check the date on the back. Twist the alarm off its base and find the manufacture date. Replace any alarm 10 years after that date. Source: USFA¹ If there's no date, assume it's too old.
6. Check for carbon monoxide alarms too. If your home has gas appliances, a fireplace or an attached garage, you need CO alarms. The CDC says to put battery or battery-backup CO detectors near every sleeping area and replace them as the maker says or every 5 years. Source: CDC⁴
7. Set a monthly reminder. Put a repeating reminder on your phone for the 1st of every month. While you're at it, add a reminder to practice your escape plan twice a year, as the Red Cross recommends. Source: Red Cross³

Your two-minute escape plan

• When an alarm sounds, you may have less than 2 minutes to get out. Source: USFA¹
• Find two ways out of every room, in case smoke blocks the first one. Make sure windows open and screens come out quickly. Source: Ready.gov²
• Sleep with your bedroom door closed. A closed door can slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Source: Ready.govUSFA²¹
• In smoke, drop down and crawl low to your exit. Heavy smoke and poisonous gases collect along the ceiling first. Source: Ready.gov²
• Before you open a door, feel the knob and the door. If either is hot, or smoke is coming around it, keep it closed and use your second way out. Source: Ready.gov²
• Get out, stay out, and call for help. Never go back inside for anything or anyone. Source: Red Cross³
• If you can't get out, close the door, cover cracks and vents with cloth or tape, call 911, say where you are, and signal from the window with a light-colored cloth or a flashlight. Source: Ready.gov²

Which alarm to buy

From the U.S. Fire Administration. Source: USFA¹ Your city or state may require a specific type, so check with your local fire marshal.

If you rent

• Landlords in many states must provide working smoke alarms. California requires them in all bedrooms, plus CO detectors in units with gas appliances or an attached garage. Source: California DRE⁵ Texas requires landlords to provide smoke alarms, and tenants can't disable them. Source: Texas AG⁶
• Test them on move-in day, and put any problem in writing to your landlord, with the date.
• Only qualified electricians should install hardwired alarms. Source: USFA¹ In a rental, that's your landlord's job.

If it doesn't work

• No sound when you press test? Replace the battery if it has one and test again. Still nothing, or it's sealed or hardwired? Replace the alarm (or ask your landlord to).
• Chirping every minute or so usually means a low battery. A sealed 10-year alarm that chirps has reached the end of its life and needs replacing.
• Can't afford new alarms? Some fire departments offer free or reduced-price alarms, and some will install battery-operated ones at no cost. Source: USFA¹ Call your local fire department's non-emergency number.