Change Your Clocks, Batteries in Smoke Alarms, Carbon Monoxide Alarms: Officials

The Forsyth County Fire Department is reminding residents to not only set their clocks forward on Sunday, March 8, for Daylight Saving Time 2015, but to swap out old batteries in your home’s smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, too.

“Replacing the batteries in the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms throughout your house twice each year is a simple task that could potentially save lives,” division chief Jason Shivers said in a news release. “A convenient way to remember to do so is by changing these batteries at the same time as you change the clocks in your home.”

But if changing the batteries twice a year seems excessive, Shivers says the batteries should be changed at least once a year, just to be safe.

While the batteries only need to be changed once or twice a year, Forsyth County Fire Department recommends testing the devices at least once a month to ensure the batteries are working properly. The devices should be replaced every seven to 10 years.

“The critical need for working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms throughout every level of a home cannot be stressed enough,” Fire Chief Danny Bowman said. “It is important to remember that you have no sense of smell when you are asleep, so smoke alarms are your only hope of being alerted to a fire.”

Senior citizens and residents in need who do not have a working smoke alarm can obtain one free of charge from the Fire Department’s Public Safety Education Division. For more information about the program, call 770-781-2180.