How to Avoid Smoke Alarm Low-Battery Alerts at 4:00am?

You’re in the middle of a deep sleep, 4:00am to be exact, when you awaken to that annoying single high-pitched chirp sound. You know the one you get when the smoke alarm battery is running low and needs to be replaced? Yes that one! Well, that’s what this post is about. As someone who is always curious about how things work (e.g., the reason I’m in the L&D field in the first place), it got me thinking. Why does it never happen during the normal hours of the day?

Getting to the Source of the Problem with AAR

I’m a fan of using a methodical approach when it comes to solving problems. One such approach is an After Action Report (AAR). The modified version I use goes something like this:

• What did I want to happen in this situation?
• What actually happened?
• Why did it happen?
• What will I do differently next time?

If you work in the Learning and Development, you will encounter challenges on a regular basis that will require you to rethink your approaches. Whether it’s working with subject matter experts, clients, or making design decisions, using AAR might be useful to you. Anyway, I digress! Let’s return to the purpose of this post.

My After Action Report

What did I want to happen?

Well, this should be obvious, I wanted to sleep all night.

What actually happened?

I was awakened at 4:00am to that annoying high-pitched chirping sound.

Why did it happen?

Well, that’s the interesting part.

In general, smoke alarms give off different alerts depending upon the model;

• One beep, then pause of 15, 30 or 60 seconds: Battery is low.
• Two beeps, then 30 second pause: Replace the entire alarm.
• Three beeps; continuous: smoke has been detected!
• Four beeps; continuous; carbon monoxide detected!

In my situation, it was one beep so I knew the battery was low. But, why does the low-battery alert never happen during normal waking hours?

After some research, it appears the culprit is temperature fluctuations. Batteries are more finicky about temperature changes than a diva with wardrobe choices! When the mercury takes a dip, your battery’s mojo follows suit, and suddenly, it’s a race against time for power depletion. As you know, or maybe didn’t, most homes are at their coolest during the 3:00am to 5:00am time period. It’s like Mother Nature’s secret plan to prank our battery-operated devices! So, there’s the answer to today’s mystery!

What will I do differently next time?

As most “complex” problems can be solved with simple solutions, this one is no different. If I don’t want to be up again between 3:00am and 5:00am, I guess the solution is to change the batteries every 6 months or at least once per year when the time changes! I guess I chose to ignore the yearly message that we all hear in the States, It goes something like this, “Daylight Saving Time is beginning this Sunday—which is the perfect time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.”

Conclusion

As professionals, we are tasked by our clients to help them solve their L&D challenges. When we do, there will be times that we will make mistakes. Using the AAR approach is a great way to reflect on what went wrong and determine how to avoid it in the future. Wishing you all a restful night sleep!