"Edwin Pawlowski" ) writes:
"Dan Espen" wrote in message

If I started pulling them out every 6 months, I'd be accumulating
a bunch of partially discharged batteries.

True, but you know your smoke detectors will work when needed. That is why
the suggestion to use up those batteries in some other gadget that is not
going to make the difference of possible life or death in an emergency, like
an MP3 player.


And just because someone has replaced the batteries in their smoke detectors
doesn't mean they have to throw out the batteries. Just put them in something
that uses a 9v battery, you'll get a good life out of it.

You're right, the idea about changing the batteries with the clock change
is to ensure the detector will work when it's needed, not because the
batteries will wear down in such a short time.

I tend to do it once a year, which still seems fine. I also mark the
batteries with the date when I put them in, so I do have a means of
kowning how long they've been in service. So long as people don't forget,
one could even do it sequentially, every six months change one of the
batteries and so on, but that only works if people are good at
remembering, which I imagine is why the fire departments have thought
up the "change the battery with the clock"; it's easier to remember, and
easier to remind people at those times, than expect them to keep track of
the last time they changed their detector battery.

One way of looking at it all is that a smoke detector is a pretty useless
thing. It doens't do anything most of the time, and if you're lucky, it
will never serve its purpose throughout its life. But people do install
smoke detectors just in case a fire really does happen, and they presumably
are glad to have that bit of protection.

In that context, changing batteries prematurely isn't so odd either. Because
the whole project is spending money just in case you have that fire some
time.

If you want to gamble that there never will be a fire, then don't buy
smoke detectors and don't buy batteries for them. But so long as
you don't want to take that risk, you install the detectors and
change the batteries regularly.


MIchael