Did you know that you need to deal with “wired in” Smoke Detectors doing more than just changing the battery every now and then? Yes, these smoke detectors do not function properly unless you take them down and clean them out by spraying them with compressed air from a can or with air from a compressor at least once a year. If you do not do this, they will go off periodically and eventually malfunction in ways that will frustrate you.

Years ago our smoke detectors started acting up, almost as if a ghost was in the house. I took the one smoke detector culprit down and changed the battery, but then another one did the same thing. I realized quickly that as one goes out,  then as timing holds true, a battery of another would go. As each smoke detector in the house followed suit, I began to think something strange was happening but wasn’t overly concerned, until they started cycling through again, going off at weird times and for no apparent reason.

Finally, after removing them all and not so gently throwing a couple of them down on the ground,  because even after the battery was removed and it was unplugged from power supply, it still chirped, I called the manufacturer. This is what the nice lady said,” These are sensitive machines and they collect dust. If you open one up and look inside you’ll see what I mean.” She then told me that she’ll send me new ones, but I need to make sure to take care of them at least once a year.

That was four years ago and It occurred to me that most people don’t know about this maintenance on smoke detectors. So, I’m writing to inform you and hopefully if some weird crazy stuff happens with your smoke detectors you’ll now know why. It’s not ghosts, its dust.