Daylight saving is a good time to get new batteries for your smoke detectors

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – With daylight saving time around the corner, the Zanesville Fire Department says that it’s also the time to change your batteries in the systems that keep you safe.

While you’re changing your clocks this weekend, it’s also recommended to change the batteries in your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. This will help ensure that the warning systems that keep you safe are always powered on.

“Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are both really important. They do save lives,” said Zanesville Firefighter David Lovejoy. “Carbon monoxide is odourless, tasteless, so you don’t know there’s carbon monoxide unless you have an alarm to tell you and smoke detectors are really important for that early warning, wake you up and get your attention if there is a fire smouldering somewhere.”

On top of changing out the batteries, you should test your detectors once a month and after you replace the batteries. If you detector fails the test, there are a couple of steps you can take.

“If you test it and it doesn’t work, the first thing to do is to check to make sure the battery is there and that it is good, if not, try a new battery. They do have a life expectancy. Usually it’s about five years, give or take, based on the manufacturer’s recommendation but they do go bad and you have to replace the entire detector itself,” Lovejoy said. “We have a program here for citizens that live in the city of Zanesville, the ABC Wilson Fund. They do provide a smoke detector for city residents. You just have to stop in, fill out a paper.”

The Zanesville City Fire Department is located at 332 South Street in downtown Zanesville and smoke detectors are available at all of the fire stations in the city.