Why Is My Fire Alarm Beeping?

Ok, we’ll admit it: as important as fire alarms are for keeping your home safe from fires, there’s nothing more annoying that a fire alarm that beeps intermittently for (seemingly) no reason at all. The noise is distinct from the noise your fire alarm makes when it’s actually alarming, so don’t worry about that. And while a fire alarm that beeps constantly is annoying, it’s pretty easy to fix!

How to Stop a Beeping Fire Alarm

If your Houston fire alarm is beeping, there could be one of four things going on. Fortunately, they’re all fairly easy fixes – you should be able to do them on your own!

Replace the battery – the most common reason that fire alarms chirp is because their batteries are running low. This is true even if you have a hardwired fire alarm. If your fire alarm starts beeping, pop the batteries out and put new ones in – there’s a good chance that this will take care of your problem.

Note: even if you have a hardwired fire alarm, you’ll need to replace the backup batteries. It’s not recommended that you just take the batteries out. In fact, this will make the beeping worse! Also remember to use normal batteries (as opposed to rechargeable) – these work best in smoke detectors. It’s typically a good practice to replace the batteries in your smoke detector every time you turn back the clocks.

Clean the fire alarm – many fire alarms work by detecting smoke particles in a sensing chamber. Unfortunately, they’re not always good about distinguishing between smoke particles and things like dust, bugs and spider webs! If your fire alarm is chirping and you know there’s a fresh battery in there, try cleaning it out with a vacuum hose attachment – this should clear out the compartment and get the fire alarm working normally again.

Check the fire alarm temperature – a lot of fire alarms will start beeping when the sensing chamber gets too hot or cold. If your fire alarm is clean and has new batteries, try adjusting the temperature on your thermostat or shading it from the sun (if that’s the problem).

Replace the fire alarm – if none of the above steps work, call Kauffman Co! We can replace your faulty fire alarm so you won’t have to deal with that beeping or chirping anymore. If your fire alarm is driving you crazy and you need fire alarm replacement, don’t wait – call Kauffman Co today!