Fire Safety

Change Your Clock, Check Your Alarms

By Gene Jolley, AHA Heartsaver® Instructor · October 26, 2026

Real emergency right now? Call 911 first. The dispatcher will coach you.

Clocks fall back one hour on Sunday, November 1, 2026. While you're walking around the house resetting the stove and the car, take ten more minutes and check every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. It is the easiest life-saving job you'll do all year.

As a CPR instructor, here is the honest truth I tell every class: CPR is what you do when something has already gone wrong. A working smoke alarm is what keeps you from needing it. The National Fire Protection Association reports that roughly three out of five home fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarm or no working one.

The 10-minute alarm check

1. Find every alarm. Walk each floor, including the basement. You should find one inside every bedroom, one outside each sleeping area (usually the hallway), and at least one on every level.
2. Press and hold the test button until the alarm sounds. A broom handle works if you can't reach. If it's quiet or weak, change the battery and test again.
3. Change replaceable batteries. 9-volt and AA alarms, and the backup battery in hardwired alarms, get fresh batteries at least once a year. The fall clock change is an easy way to remember.
4. Check the date on the back. Twist the alarm off its base and look for "Date of Manufacture" or "Replace By." Count 10 years from the manufacture date, not the day you put it up.
5. Test your carbon monoxide alarms too. Same button, same idea. CO has no smell or color. The alarm is the only warning you get.
6. Gently vacuum the vents. Dust and cobwebs inside the cover cause false alarms and slow response.

Safety first: use a sturdy step ladder, keep three points of contact, and have someone hold it. If climbing isn't safe for you, get help.

What that chirp actually means

Most of us have heard an alarm chirp at 2 a.m. and pulled the battery to make it stop. Don't. The sound is the alarm telling you something specific. Patterns vary a little by brand, so check the label on your alarm, but these are the common ones:

Never ignore a CO alarm because "nobody feels sick." Early CO poisoning feels like the flu: headache, dizziness, nausea and feeling tired. If more than one person in the house feels that way at the same time, especially when the furnace is running, get outside.

When to replace the whole alarm

• Smoke alarms: every 10 years from the manufacture date. The sensor wears out even if the test button still works.
• CO alarms: follow the date on the label. Many last 7 to 10 years, and many have an end-of-life signal.
• Sealed 10-year battery alarms: there's no battery to change. When it chirps low battery, replace the whole unit.
• Any alarm that fails a test with a fresh battery, was painted over, or was damaged.

Hardwired alarms: what you can do yourself

Many homes have alarms wired into the house power with a backup battery. You can test these and change the backup battery like any other alarm. Replacing the hardwired unit itself is electrical work. In Vermont, that falls under a licensed electrician. If your hardwired alarms are past 10 years, call a licensed electrician.

Selling a home in Vermont?

Vermont requires the seller of a single-family home to certify that the home has working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms when it is sold (9 V.S.A. § 2883). Check your alarms well before closing, not the week of. Ask your realtor what your buyer's lender and town expect.

One more step: practice getting out

An alarm only helps if everyone knows what to do when it goes off. Pick two ways out of every bedroom, choose a meeting spot outside (the mailbox or a big tree), and walk it once with your kids. Tell them: get out, stay out, and never go back in for anything.

While you're here, grab our free printable CPR posters and pocket cards, and try the Hands-Only CPR metronome.

Sources

• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA): smoke alarm installation, testing and 10-year replacement guidance, nfpa.org
• U.S. Fire Administration: smoke alarm maintenance, usfa.fema.gov
• Kidde: alarm sound patterns and replacement, kidde.com
• Vermont Statutes, 9 V.S.A. § 2883 (smoke and CO alarms at home sale), legislature.vermont.gov

This guide is general safety information, not medical advice or a code inspection. It does not replace a hands-on CPR or first aid class. Product recommendations are my own and are not endorsed by the American Heart Association.