That Chirp You Hear Is NOT The Bluebird of Happiness!

A chirping smoke detector (or carbon mMonoxide detector for that matter) usually signals a low battery. Ignoring it can put you and your family in danger. 

Smoke detectors are designed to make a chirping noise once the battery needs changing. Newer smoke alarms retain some errors in a processor. The smoke alarm should clear errors after the battery is changed, but it may continue to chirp even after you change the batteries. This also occurs in smoke alarms powered by electricity with a battery backup. If this happens, the only way to stop the chirping noise is to manually clear the error from the processor by resetting the smoke alarm.

Here's how to do that:

ELECTRIC SMOKE DETECTORS WITH BATTERY BACKUP

1. Turn off the main breaker in your home’s breaker box to turn off the electrical current running to the smoke detector.
2. Take the smoke detector off its mounting bracket on the ceiling and disconnect the power cable connected to the smoke detector.
3. Remove its battery, then press the “Test” button and hold it down for 15 seconds. An alarm will sound briefly, then the alarm will silence.
4. Place the battery in the smoke detector, reconnect the power cable and put the smoke detector back on its mounting bracket. Turn the breaker on. The detector will chirp one time to indicate power was restored to the unit.

BATTERY-POWERED SMOKE DETECTORS

1. Take the battery out of the smoke detector.
2. Press the “Test” button and hold it down for 15 seconds. An alarm will sound briefly, then the alarm will silence.
3. Put the battery back in the smoke detector. The detector will chirp one time to indicate the battery is connected.