NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Fire Marshal Michael Cain said that if you have the old type of smoke detectors in your home, it is a good idea to change your batteries when you change your clocks.
"Any home constructed after 1999 has to have hardwired," Cain said. "There's quite a few hardwired, but we still have a lot of battery powered ones out there."
There are new battery powered versions that have enclosed batteries and that are good for 10 years from installation, but the element that makes them go off when smoke is present only has a 10 year half life, so once they have been used for 10 years they won't work any more.
"The detectors themselves are only good for 10 years," Cain said. "All of them now have dates in them, manufacture dates. If you take it off and it has no date listed in it or printed in it, then you know it's well, well out of date."
If you live in a house you own in the city and you need new detectors, all you have to do is ask.
"The alarms that we get are through the state fire marshal's office," Cain said. "They send them out. They have some kind of grant that they get them and send them out to us. We just tell them how many we want."
If you rent, it is the responsibility of your landlord to be sure the buildings they own have working smoke detectors.
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