How to Test Smoke Alarms

The fire department tells us to test smoke alarms throughout the house when the time changes in the spring and fall because this is an easy way to remember to check the batteries and assure that the alarms are working. How do you test the smoke alarms in your home? Do you walk by and push the button to make sure that the siren beeps? You hear that beep and then you feel safe knowing that your smoke alarm is ready and waiting to alert you in case of a fire--right? After all, that beep means it in fact is "working", right? You could never be more wrong!

Testing Smoke Alarms the Right Way

Sure you walked by and pushed the button, the smoke alarm beeped, and everything is good--or at least you think that everything is good. The batteries are apparently working, there is power to the smoke alarm, so this must mean that the smoke detectors are in proper working order--right?

Unfortunately, smoke detectors don't work just because you pushed the button and heard the tell tale beep of power going through the alarm. There is only one true way to test the smoke detectors in your home and this involves actually holding a flame near the smoke alarm and waiting for it to go off!

Don't sell yourself short thinking that just because the smoke alarms in your home have working batteries and the alarm beeps or chirps when you push the button that you are protected in case of a fire--you aren't! Testing your home's smoke alarms every time the time changes requires you to physically light a candle, hold it up to the smoke alarm and time the amount of time that it takes for the smoke alarm to sound.

The Results of Testing a Smoke Alarm

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says that flashover occurs within 2 minutes of a house fire starting in the home! 2 MINUTES! Flashover is the point at which the gasses and heat in the home build up to the point that the entire house engulfs in flames. How long did it take for your smoke alarm to sound? 30 seconds? A minute? 2 Minutes?--You're DEAD! This is a smoke alarm test!

You have to test the time that it takes for the smoke alarms throughout the house to sound in the event of a fire. If they don't sound--you're dead! If they take 2 minutes to sound--you're dead! If they sound after a minute and a half--you're likely dead! The smoke alarms in your home, when subjected to a candle being held directly within a foot of them should sound immediately! There should not be a delay as this could cause your death!

The fact is, smoke alarms can beep and still not alert you when there is a fire! About 1/3 of smoke alarms fail in the event of a fire. That means, one out of three of your home's smoke detectors will not sound or that out of three fires you may have only 2 that your smoke alarms actually alert you of! Not the best odds you could have when talking about a matter of life and death! Simply pushing the button to hear the chirp out of the smoke alarm tells you that, yes in fact the batteries in the smoke alarm are good--that's all it tells you though! In recognition of National Fire Safety Month, throughout October you should check all of the smoke alarms in your home, hold a candle to the alarm and time the amount of time it takes for the alarm to sound, and make sure to replace any smoke alarms that do not sound within 30 seconds or less. This is how you properly test the smoke alarms in the home!