Should I Use Battery or Electric Smoke Detectors?
Both electric smoke detectors and battery-powered smoke detectors have benefits and drawbacks. Battery powered smoke detectors must have regular maintenance, including frequent testing and battery replacement. However, they are easy to install and relatively inexpensive. Electric smoke detectors are much easier maintenance-wise, but must be hard-wired into your house. The NFPA also recommends that you select an electric smoke detector that has a battery back-up; in rare cases, an electrical fire, or a power outage has been known to short out an electric smoke detector, silencing the alarm.

Why Is My Smoke Detector Chirping?
If you hear a faint "chirping" or "beeping" noise approximately every 30 seconds, your smoke detector is probably trying to tell you something: It's hungry! Some smoke detectors are built to sound a warning alarm when the battery power begins to run low. By chirping, the smoke detector is trying to get your attention and convince you to put a new battery inside it.

Of course, if you properly maintain your smoke detector, you probably won't hear this type of chirping.

How Do I Test My Smoke Detector?
Your smoke detector's manual should give you detailed instructions on how to test your smoke detector. Usually, this is done by pressing a button in the center of the smoke detector. If you press this button down for a few seconds and it beeps, then the battery should still be working. If the smoke detector does not beep, then replace the battery and test again.

Are There Smoke Detectors for the Hearing Impaired?
People who are hard-of-hearing also need the protection that smoke detectors provide. Smoke detectors for the hearing impaired are smoke detectors that have a strong strobe light attached to the circuitry. When the smoke detector sense the smoke, the strobe light begins blinking.

If you are installing one of these smoke detectors, follow the instructions on where to locate this detector. You might want to install the smoke detector inside the appropriate bedroom, rather than in the hallway, so that the light will be stronger when anyone is at their most vulnerable: when they are asleep. Also, you might need more than one hearing-impaired smoke detector for the home.

Remember, too, that you'll need a hearing-impaired smoke detector when you are sleeping away from home. Hotels and motels usually have hearing-impaired smoke detectors available upon request.

Why Won't My Smoke Detector Let Me Cook?
(and Other Problems with False Alarms.)

If you frequently have false alarms while you are cooking, your smoke detector isn't hinting to you that your cooking is bad. The most common cause for frequent false alarms is a bad placement of the smoke detector. Photo electric smoke detectors are designed to alarm when ever a small amount of "unclear" air passes through its sensors; it cannot tell the difference between thick acrid smoke, dusty air from the workroom, or steam from the bathroom.

Moving your smoke detectors to a better location -- away from the kitchen, or bathroom, or a dusty area -- and a good cleaning of the smoke detector will usually solve the problem.