Outfitting your business with proper commercial fire and carbon monoxide alarms is an essential step for protecting your employees, place of business, and equipment. However, ongoing maintenance is required to ensure all of your alarms are working properly and offering the safety they’re designed to provide. Below, we’re going to discuss how often you should check and change each type of alert system so you can protect your company most effectively.
How Often to Check Commercial Smoke Alarms
At a minimum, most municipalities require annual testing of commercial smoke alarms to ensure that all pieces of the system are functioning properly. This includes ensuring that batteries (if applicable) are holding a charge, sensors are working and calibrated, and that all detection equipment is clean.
How Often to Change Commercial Smoke Alarms
Even if your smoke alarms pass regular inspection, they should be changed regularly to ensure there are no malfunctions. The U.S. Fire Administration states that smoke alarms have a useful life of between eight and 10 years, after which they need to be replaced. Replacing battery-powered alarms is quick and simple, but hardwired alarms may require help from a professional.
How Often to Check Commercial Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Carbon monoxide alarms require more powerful sensors than smoke alarms, so there’s a higher likelihood of something malfunctioning. CO alarms need to be checked for proper functionality about once a month. Even if your alarms are working, it’s recommended that you change batteries in these alarms once every 6 months.
How Often to Change Commercial Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Carbon monoxide detectors have a useful life of around five to seven years, so all of your CO alarms need to be changed out for new ones once they’re about five years old. It’s important to make this change for new equipment even if regular battery changes and tests are completed.
How Often to Check Combination Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Combination smoke and CO detectors are now often rated for a 10-year lifespan and include a battery that lasts for 10 years as well. These alarms should be tested monthly, but there’s no need to replace batteries.
How Often to Change Combination Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Because most combination smoke/CO detectors are now made to last for 10 years, you can plan to replace your alarms once every decade. Many alarms will even have an “end of life” notification that will let you know when they have been running for 10 years.
If you want the best and most worry-free protection for your business from both smoke and CO, contact one of our highly trained fire alarm experts today to get a professional and affordable smoke/CO alarm solution for your business.
