On 10/1/2015 10:04 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 12:40:49 PM UTC-4, Don Y wrote:

The smoke alarms 'tweets' when the batteries needs to be changed.

We don't wait until it starts it's INCESSANT chirping. Do you
want to listen to it for an hour, day, week before you get around
to replacing the battery? Easier to be proactive and replace it
before it complains.

I change it immediately upon hearing it tweet.

We don't keep "spare batteries" (for anything) on hand.

Not even for flashlights? That seems risky. Do you change them on a
regular schedule whether they need them or not? Do you not have any battery
operated flashlights? That seems risky too.

We have two or three of the larger "maglites", a couple of small
"pen-light" style with rechargeable batteries, and numerous of
the "disposable" HF offerings (again, with rechargeable cells).

We also have several "crank" flashlights and shake-lights.

In an outage, we use CFL's powered by any of the ~13 UPS's
scattered around the house.

Most "batteries" here are AA or AAA (or, the larger gelled electrolyte/AGM
batteries in the UPS's) -- all these small flashlights, remote controls,
electronic magnifiers, etc. So, we keep 4 spares in a charger and
swap them out with whatever needs them when the time comes.

Aside from the CO/smoke detectors, *nothing* uses 9V batteries so
no reason to keep them on hand.

I suspect
this is true of many folks as it seems common for people to UNPLUG
their smoke detectors when they start chirping. Then, forget
to buy the battery and end up operating with no smoke detectors
in place (at least, we hear of homes lost to fire wherein the
smoke detectors had no batteries in them -- this seems like a
logical explanation of what transpired).

How "common" do you think this is?

It do4esn't matter how common it is to the folks who failed to
replace their batteries! : It's not common for folks to get
struck by lightning -- yet I don't run outside and stand under
a tree when we have an electrical storm! :

Yes, you hear about the homes/lives that were lost to those fires, but you
don't hear as much about the people whose homes and/or lives were saved
because their detectors worked. The good news doesn't often make the
headlines because it doesn't sell.

Of course! But, they were saved because they *did* replace their
batteries. As *we* do! The difference is, we don't wait for the
detectors to chirp to prompt us to do so.

When detector 1 chirps, do you JUST replace it's battery? What about
the other detectors? Should you anticipate that they will be needing
replacement soon? Or, wait for them to start chirping as well?
(How is being proactive in that case different from my approach of
anticipating detector 1's failure?!)

"Family doesn't die in house fire. House saved. More at 11."

My guess is that "common" is not the right word to apply to the sad
situations.

Note that modern smoke/CO detectors *acknowledge* this practice
by requiring 110VAC operation (with battery for "backup") *or*
having 10 year batteries, etc.

So, obviously "enough" people died because they (effectively)
disabled their detectors to merit changes in the way those
detectors are designed/made. That suggests *someone* thought
it enough of a problem to address it!

Just FYI...

Many new-ish battery operated smoke and/or CO detectors are designed such
that they cannot be (easily) mounted if they don't have batteries installed.
A spring loaded tab extends in such a way as to prevent either mounting or
(with some older models) from closing the battery door.

Obviously, making the mounting impossible/very difficult is the best method
to help prevent the "use' of a detector without batteries. The user would
have to physically put the detector someplace else (hopefully not in a
drawer) while they run out and buy batteries.

Most detectors are *easily* removed. Ours require a twist to unlock the
detector from the base, then unplug the three conductor cable assembly.
Thereafter, where you put the detector is up to you -- the *house*
won't complain that the detector is "missing"!

What *will* get complaints is a detector that chirps every few minutes
until you "feed it". Given how easily it can be disconnected, it's
obvious why so many *do* get disconnected -- "while I remember to run out
and buy batteries" (which I suspect is rarely done "right now")