How To Clean A Smoke Detector

Possibly the most effective ways of avoiding having to use the services of a fire damage clean up expert is to install a smoke detector. The next task that will be required to make doubly sure is to keep the smoke detector in good working order. For most of us we install our smoke detectors and then virtually forget about them as they sit unobtrusively on the wall or ceiling.

The question may come up over whether you should clean your smoke detector. The answer is a resounding yes. Dust can affect the workings of your smoke detector and you don’t want to allow anything to get into your smoke detector that may affect its operation in any way. The last thing you want is to find out that your smoke detector has been rendered useless because of too much dust because it hasn’t gone off during a fire.

To clean your smoke detector, all you have to do is run the vacuum cleaner over the top of it to free every possible crack up from any dust that may have made its way in through the gaps.

Another task that must be undertaken on a regular basis is giving the alarm a test run. One piece of advice I have followed to ensure that this important task is carried out twice a year is to test my smoke detector at the start of daylight savings in the Spring and then again at the end. When you set your clocks forward and back, also go around and check that the smoke detectors work properly. You may even carry that a step further by changing the batteries over on this day.

Smoke detectors also will not last forever. Studies have shown that they start to become a little less reliable after around 5 to 7 years and by the 8 to 10 year mark should really be replaced with a new version.

Fire prevention is a much better option than fire restoration so you should be taking every reasonable precaution you can think of to make certain that it is very unlikely that a fire will break out in your home.