Smoke Detectors
Today’s building code says you must have a smoke detector every in every room hallway which pretty much works out to be every 5 feet there is a smoke detector. In newer houses they developed a system to interconnect all of them together. This internal wiring not only powers the smoke detector but also allow them all to go off in harmony. When we first moved in and the oven had never been cooked in these smoke detectors made me feel very safe. I knew that if there was a fire in the kitchen I would know about it all the way over in the far west wing of my house. When you first move into a house you typically don’t have everything unpacked the first day. So when trying to cook a frozen pizza you just put it on the rack. Who would think that the little piece of cheese which dripped in the oven could possible set off my high tech smoke detection system. The first experience with this system we learned that you have to hold the HUSH button for 5 seconds before it will HUSH. Simple lesson. Everyone got a good laugh out of it.
I wake up early. I always have so it is my job to find something for breakfast. Muffins are quick and easy. Turn on the oven, add an egg and mix. Remember the piece of cheese in the oven. Yep still there. Everyone sound asleep until the super smoke detector detected cheese in the oven. Remember those 5 seconds it takes to HUSH the system. No one sleeps through that.
So on to my most recent experience with this system. They say you are supposed to change the batteries once a year in a smoke detector. When you have a smoke detector every 5 feet that can get expensive. Then I asked myself why change them? They are all hardwired into the electrical so they only use the battery when there is a power outage. So the other day one of my smoke detectors decided to inform me that it was time to change the battery. Now how could a smoke detector possible tell you its batteries are dead. It has a light and a speaker. My smoke detectors used the speaker to tell me the batteries are dead. Every minute it beeped to let me know. Now this doesn’t seem like such a big deal unless its about 2:33am. Now I have this high tech smoke detecting system so I figure I just need to find the smoke detector which has a red flashing light and replace the battery and back to sleep I go. The problem is only one is beeping and none of them have a red light flashing. By this time Kaitlyn is annoyed by the beeping and has decided to wake up and help. So one by one I go into a bedroom close the door and listen for the beep. At 2:33am that one minute seems to take forever. Third smoke detector was the charm. I can’t decide if this system helps me sleep or keeps me from sleeping.
