So, some years ago, we had some problems with our smoke detectors. They were getting close to a due date to replace them all, particularly as we had changed the batteries on one or two a couple of times in the previous year, but they were still prone to regular chirping. They were draining the batteries too quickly, but well, it was batteries, not a huge expense.

While we were doing some other work, we decided to replace all the smoke detectors in the house. The new ones would be directly wired to the electrical grid, come with battery backups, of course, and be linked together so that if one went off, they all went off. It was VERY convenient.

Now with our old stove (yes, I’m still on the same story), any time we used the broiler, it was easy to end up having some extra smoke come out of the oven when we were done, and the alarms would go off like crazy. So we knew they always worked. I checked the batteries for the first year, but with the convenience of direct wiring and the fact that they went off a couple of times a year, I knew they worked, so I stopped checking the batteries regularly.

Last week, there was a power outage in the middle of the night. This is kind of weird, as this has NEVER happened to me before — my CPAP machine had no power so it stopped, of course. Which woke me up. Okay, no biggie, take the mask off, roll over, verify power is out all over, back to sleep.

About 20 minutes later, the smoke detector chirped. Low battery. Ugh.

The power isn’t off for long stretches, sooooo I tried to tough it out. Nope, about 5 minutes later, chirp. It seemed to be happening at faster intervals, and it took me a while to figure out that it was ALL three detectors chirping at different intervals. I have zero desire to be climbing a ladder at 3 in the morning myself while holding my phone as a flashlight. Everybody else was still asleep.

I tried going to the basement only to realize that my incoherent comprehension of the chirping was all three chirping, with the one in the basement the loudest by far. I gave a shot at trying to remove the battery from that one, as it was easy to reach, but I couldn’t figure it out with limited light. I also couldn’t figure out a shush button, although I was pretty sure there was one somewhere. I went back to bed, finally dozed off when the batteries stopped even chirping upstairs, but my sleep was destroyed.

I woke up around 6:00 or 6:30 and the power was back on, but I never managed to recover.

So I added it to our list — put new batteries in the smoke detectors. Which, of course, means I have to take one down to confirm WHAT type/size battery it is — 9 volts. Great, guess which ones we’re out of? Oh yeah, 9 volts. So another day goes by. And the detectors start chirping. I have power, I get that I need to replace it, but we have other stuff going on. Yes, I found out there’s a shush button that keeps it quiet for about 12 hours and then it starts chirping again.

It took me a day or two, but yes, I got them, and yes, we replaced the batteries. Of course, two are one style and one is different, cuz why not add to the fun of figuring out to get them down and change the batteries? I was sure I bought them at the same time with all three being the same, but who knows, maybe I didn’t. Or maybe that was one where we had the contractor buy them. I don’t remember at this point.

But it was interesting. The convenience of having them directly wired led to the problem that I stopped checking them, they always had power. The inconvenience of the chirping led to the solution of updating them.

Now I just need to remember in 6 months to check them again when we change the clocks. Although now I have a question…if I do the check, and it sounds like it’s supposed to, how do I know that’s not just the wired part working but that the batteries are okay too? I assume as is the case with these ones, if it’s too low, it will chirp again but the “test” may not necessarily tell me that, I guess.

Nevertheless, we’re updated.