It’s the middle of the night. You and your family are sleeping peacefully when suddenly a beeping sound starts making its way into your dreams. If you’ve got young children, soon they’re making their way into your bedroom, confused by the insistent chirping. Or your dog may either go “on alert” or be looking for somewhere to hide. Bottom line: you can say goodbye to your good night’s sleep! As battery suppliers, we like to help you avoid this scenario, and changing your smoke detector batteries every six months when the time changes is the best way to do that!
Of course, the annoyance of a late-night wake-up call is really of secondary importance. Changing your smoke alarm batteries regularly helps protect you and your family in the event of a fire. The warning from a properly operating smoke detector can give you the time you need to evacuate your home safely.
Insight from a Supplier of Wholesale Batteries: Why Smoke Alarms Chirp at Night
If you’re the person at your house who has to get up and shuffle around trying to figure out which smoke detector or detectors are chirping, you may wonder why this always happens at night. Perhaps you’ve written it off simply as bad luck. However, from our work with wholesale batteries, we know that there’s actually a reason why smoke alarm batteries tend to fail while you’re sleeping, and it has to do with the battery’s charge level and the overnight air temperature.
As a smoke alarm’s battery ages, the amount of energy it has in storage decreases. That fact, combined with the fact that lower temperatures affect a battery’s ability to deliver power, can cause a smoke detector to go into low-battery-warning mode. Since most homes are coolest in the early morning hours, that’s when the beeping is most likely to occur. It’s also why the situation may appear to have magically improved the next day when the temperature in the home rises.
However, that’s just a temporary reprieve. The “chirp monster” will likely return when the temperature falls again. That’s why you’re wise to replace batteries in all of your smoke detectors in the light of day!
Battery Suppliers are Ready for You When the Time Changes
Is there any reason why battery suppliers and others encourage people to replace their smoke alarm batteries when we “spring forward” and “fall back”? No, not really. The six-month interval simply helps ensure that you always have fresh batteries in your smoke detectors. And tying battery changes to clock changes just feels like a natural fit, especially since we get plenty of friendly reminders from the media about the impending time changes. (Not to mention the unpleasant reminders that occur if we fail to change our clocks and arrive to work or an event an hour late or an hour early!) And, of course, battery suppliers ensure their shelves are fully stocked in advance of the time changes.
If those times of year don’t work well for you, you can just pick two days six months apart and make it your practice to change your batteries then. As long as you have recurring reminders on your calendar, you should be all set. And if you don’t, another sleepless night should prompt you to add those reminders!
The Movement to End Daylight Saving Time
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act in 1966. That legislation established daylight saving time (note that it’s “saving” not “savings”) as the last Sunday in April through the last Sunday in October. That time frame was later extended to the first Sunday of November. However, there seems to be growing support for sticking with either standard time or daylight saving time all year long.
Arizona already does not change its clocks, and some additional states have passed legislation to stop switching. Now they just need approval from the federal government to enact the change. If the twice-yearly time change goes away, your calendar will be your best friend when it comes to avoiding early morning wake-up calls when your smoke detector batteries die!
Our full-service facility in Colorado can provide the wholesale batteries your business needs quickly and cost-effectively. Contact Rapport, Inc., a leader among battery suppliers, to get your wholesale batteries!
