Last night as we were heading upstairs to bed I happened to think that we haven't tested nor accidentally set off the smoke alarms in the house in a very long time.I walked over and pushed the test button on the one in the upstairs hallway. I could see a red light inside but the alarm didn't go off. Our house is new enough so that the alarms are hardwired which means if one sounds, they all do. It didn't go off and none of the others did either.
I went back downstairs and pressed the test button on that one; nothing. We have been living in a house without smoke alarms!
As a real estate agent it's partly my job to have a property being conveyed to a new owner inspected prior to the sale by the city or town fire marshal. At the closing we have to have a certificate saying the house has been inspected within the last 60 days and the alarms (both smoke and carbon monoxide) are no older than ten years, working and properly placed . No certificate, no closing. It's state law.
And here we are, living in a house, for who knows how long, without functioning alarms. Our house is nearly 30 years old. So the detectors should have been changed long ago but since they had been working (I thought) I wasn't concerned.
I send post cards twice a year to clients reminding them to change their clocks because of daylight savings time AND to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. Talk about not following your own advice.
Shame on me, shame on us, mainly because I know better and because we have been living in a house WITHOUT smoke alarms. That's scary.
Have you checked your detectors lately?
6 comments:
I would not have been able to sleep and of course would have run down to the grocery store for 9-volt batteries because you know I never have those in the house when I need them.
JR is meticulous about changing the batteries at our house so I never even think of it unless I set one off. Since, they went off recently from a little cooking experiment gone awry I think he's been on the job. ;)
Came here via Midlife Jobhunter. Saw the book list on the side of your site, read about Playa del Carmen, and was hooked. I will be back again! EFH
This is sort of like the accountant who has an accounting mess in his own household.
I just replaced a couple. I'll check the rest now, though.
Yikes! That is scary. Ours are battery operated and we change the battteries religiously when we change the clocks in October. (I only do it once a year. I can't imagine the batteries die more frequently than that).
No we haven't, didn't even know you had to when they are wired with the home. Thank you for mentioning it.
Thanks for the reminder! I'm thinking probably not!
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