Daylight Saving Time Smoke & CO Detector Battery Check
Why it matters
Smoke and CO detectors protect against fire (leading cause of unintentional home death) and CO poisoning (silent killer, 400+ deaths/year in US). Dead batteries render detectors useless. Anchoring maintenance to DST ensures consistent twice-yearly testing.
Stop forgetting to do this.
Hearth generates a personalized maintenance schedule so you never miss another daylight saving time smoke & co detector battery check.
How to do it
- 1
On DST days (spring forward: mid-March; fall back: early November), test every smoke and CO detector in the home.
- 2
Press the test button on each detector; confirm you hear a loud alarm within 3 seconds.
- 3
If no alarm, the battery is dead—replace with a fresh alkaline battery (AA or 9V per device label).
- 4
For hardwired detectors, confirm the indicator light is on (green typically indicates AC power is present).
- 5
For wireless or battery-only detectors, verify the connection status on your home automation app (if applicable).
- 6
Check the manufacturing date on each detector; replace any older than 10 years with new units (cost ~$15–30 per detector).