Remember Your 9Volts This Weekend!

There are just some things in life that people forget about and take for granted. Things like fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and smoke detectors. However, even though you may have these devices installed and in perfect order, there are some statistics that you should know:

· 3, 369 people that die annually from smoke inhalation
· 2,761 people die from an uncontrolled fire in a building per year
· 57 people die from smoke that is not in their own structure or building

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a statement that everyone should change the batteries in their smoke alarms when the time changes this weekend (November 4). When the government issued a survey they found that approximately 90% of households actually have smoke alarms, but 20% of them were not in working order.

Smoke alarms can be frustrating. How many people know what it feels like to be woken up in the middle of the night to a beep every 45 seconds or so? You search the house, trying desperately to find the source of the beep, but every time you go into another room, the beep becomes fainter. Finally, you locate the beeping only to find that your 9Volt battery is dead. You remove the smoke alarm, put it in the garage, and vow to fix it later….six months go by and it is still a “to-do” list item.

The key to success in regards to smoke alarms is to stock pile on your batteries. You can buy alkaline batteries in bulk and never have to worry about running out when you may need them the most. Energizer batteries all have a shelf life of up to 7 years, which means that you don’t have to feel pressure to use them in a short period of time. If purchasing a battery could be the difference between life and death…then it should be considered a low price to pay.