Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms is the shortest and highest-consequence task on any home maintenance list. It takes five minutes, requires nothing, and a meaningful proportion of homes that carry out this check discover at least one alarm that does not sound, is missing entirely, or expired years ago.

Why test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms is worth an hour

Alarms fail silently. A dead battery, a sensor past its service life, or a unit someone disconnected during cooking and never reconnected all produce the same outcome: a device on the ceiling that looks like protection and is not. The test button is the only thing that distinguishes the two states, and expiry dates catch the failure it cannot.

How to test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms step by step

1. 1

   Press every test button

   Each unit, individually. If they are interlinked, confirm the others sound too, which is the point of interlinking.

2. 2

   Check the manufacture date

   Printed on the back or side. Smoke alarms typically expire after ten years and carbon monoxide units sooner.

3. 3

   Verify the placement

   Smoke alarms on every level and in escape routes; carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a fuel-burning appliance.

4. 4

   Vacuum the units

   Dust causes both false alarms and reduced sensitivity. A quick pass with the brush attachment is enough.

5. 5

   Agree an escape route

   Two minutes talking through how everyone gets out. Working alarms only help if the next step is decided in advance.

Tips to get more out of it

• Test monthly. Attaching it to an existing monthly routine is the only way this reliably keeps happening.
• Never remove a battery to silence cooking smoke. Move the alarm or fit one with a hush button instead.
• Carbon monoxide is odourless and its symptoms mimic flu. An alarm is the only way to detect it at all.

Ways to mix it up

If your alarms are all working and current, spend the remaining time checking fire extinguisher pressure and clearing escape routes of stored items. If you rent, report any missing or non-functioning alarm to your landlord in writing, since providing them is usually a legal obligation.

Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: frequently asked questions