It happened again on Saturday night, thankfully before we had gone to sleep: the dreaded beep of a smoke detector that is losing power. Has anyone ever heard this noise and not groaned? Usually, we hear it at 3:00 a.m. but this time, at least, it didn’t rouse us from a deep sleep. Good news.
Next came the process of finding the culprit.
We split up and walked to different rooms in the house, following the trails of beeps as we waited for the next one to tell us if we were close.They are mounted on the ceiling because smoke rises and this would give us the best early warning.
After eliminating the bedroom, living room and kitchen, (and before heading upstairs) we tried the garage. Nope. and then the basement. Yes! The unit at the bottom of the stairs was blinking and beeping.
There was, of course, no fire. Then the smoke detector would make a completely different sound.
Step 2: Changing the Battery
That took us to step two: change the battery.
This step sounds simple but can be tricky. It becomes increasingly dangerous as we get older. I am constantly aware of what I could and couldn’t do if I were alone in the house.
My husband fetched the stepladder and set it up under the beeper. I stayed nearby in case of mishap. The unit was within reach, which made it easier.
After climbing the stepladder, Seth detached the smoke detector. Could I do that by myself? Probably not. Like many devices, it’s bigger than my hands can hold and arthritis makes it difficult to twist things.
He removed the old battery and replaced it with a new one.
Step 3: Re-connect the Smoke Detector
Now came the third and hardest part: re-attaching a device that operates upside down.
The plug dangles from the wall-mounted unit while the receptacle is in the detachable piece. It took a few tries before he re-connected the plug, which has a short wire, to the piece he held in his hand. The process requires a sharp eye and a steady hand to do it right. I likely couldn’t do this, either.
Why Is This Process So Difficult?
All the while we were doing this, I wondered why the process of changing the battery in a smoke detector is so difficult. It’s easier to start a Ferrari than to do this.
The manufacturers of wall-mounted smoke detectors assume that residents are mobile, flexible, and comfortable with ladders. Even so, this may not be enough. Some of the smoke detectors in our house are reachable only with a very large stepladder. Replacing the one in the garage is no longer something we can do (or should do) ourselves. (That’s what the firefighters said a while ago when all our smoke detectors went off at once and wouldn’t stop.)
The Senior Safe Program
An alternative is the state’s Senior Safe Program. It works through local fire departments to provide the following key services and offerings as stated on the web site.
- Home Safety Visits & Alarms: Firefighters and educators conduct home visits to evaluate residential hazards, install or replace smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and test or change alarm batteries. [1, 2]
- Safety Equipment Distribution: Grant funds allow the department to supply qualifying senior residents with practical safety items, which may include:
- File-of-Life Distribution: Seniors receive File-of-Life magnetic pockets to place on their refrigerators, containing critical medical and emergency contact information for first responders. [1]
- Educational Presentations: Workshops hosted at venues like the Hudson Senior Center and community centers cover critical topics:
My Next Question
This is all great, and we plan to participate, but it doesn’t answer my next question:
Why don’t the brilliant minds behind our start-up companies devise a better smoke detector? One that even senior citizens can use safely and easily.
We can send astronauts into space, kill people with drones, and make robots that dance but we can’t have a more user-friendly smoke detector? Really?
More on that in my next post.
