How do I stop my fire alarm from chirping? Is it broken?

A fire alarm chirping at regular intervals is not broken – it just needs to have its batteries replaced. However, if your fire alarm seems to be chirping randomly, there could be a number of things going on:

• The battery may be loose or improperly installed – make sure the battery fits correctly in the battery slot and is held in securely – otherwise the connections may not make good contact with the battery and the alarm will think it is not always connected. If the battery wasn’t put into the slot properly, just pop it out and put it back in.
• The fire alarm cover may be dirty – over time, dust and dead bugs can collect in the sensor chamber of your fire alarm, causing it to chirp. Every time you change your alarm batteries (should be twice a year, when you change the clocks for daylight savings time!) vacuum out the chamber.
• To minimize the chance of false alarms, install ionization fire alarms in dusty rooms.
• The fire alarm may need to be reset – most new electronic fire alarms come with logic boards that tell the alarm to chirp when the battery gets low. Unfortunately, replacing the battery doesn’t always stop the chirping! Sometimes you need to hit the RESET button in order to ensure the smoke detector works properly.
• Power to the fire alarm has been interrupted – a power surge could interrupt power to the fire alarm, causing it to chirp when the power is restored. Hitting the RESET button should take care of the problem.