For those of you who are new here, back in 2013 my husband and I bought a foreclosure house. In 2014 we started remodeling it, tearing off the kitchen and two bathrooms. We added on a new kitchen, entryway, laundry, two bathrooms, and my sewing room along with a double car garage. In the process of all of that, the entire house was rewired and replumbed. Being all girl, I knew nothing about smoke detectors except that they needed to be wired in nowadays. So we had wired in smoke detectors. BUT…My husband, Kramer was a fireman and the wired in detectors weren’t enough for him. He wanted more in the house…so, I have a house loaded with smoke detectors.
A while ago, I had a beeping smoke detector. I could not figure out which one it was. If I was in the living room, it sounded like it was one in the kitchen. If I was in the kitchen, it sounded like it was the one in the living room. The problem, it wouldn’t beep continually. UGH.
This went on for about five days. I’d hear it then not hear it. So, to be careful, all of the batteries on the main floor smoke detectors were changed. It didn’t make a difference. AHH!! I was sure I was going crazy. I didn’t know what to do.
Then a few days later I was down in the basement and “BEEP”. The bad battery was in the basement detector. To be honest, I completely forgot there was a detector in the basement. But what confused me was that this was a wired smoke detector…then I remembered that even those have batteries for backups. So…Up the stairs, I went. Got a battery and changed the battery. It was good for about 24 hours and “BEEP”. AHHH!
At least this time I knew where it was coming from. Last time I changed the battery I took one that was in the drawer loose and not in the package. So…I thought maybe someone accidentally put a dead battery in the drawer. I got a battery out of the package went back to the basement and changed the battery.
It was good for about 24 hours and “BEEP”. AHHH! What the heck. I was going crazy…just crazy.
As I said, I know nothing about wired-in smoke detectors. So, I called Kayla’s husband Spencer. He’s an electrician and I was sure he could help.
Spencer talked to me on the phone. He told me I needed a model and make and he’d get a replacement detector and install it the next time he came.  Luckily they had plans to come in only a few days.
…and this is my new detector! YAHOO!! No more beeping. I’m so happy and thankful. I really went about a week sure I was crazy, first not being able to figure out which detector was bad and then trying to figure out how to replace first a battery and then the whole detector.
In the chaos and hubbub here… I didn’t get a picture of Spencer fixing it. All I know is that Spencer was my knight in shining armor on this one. He saved my sanity and a call to the electrician. I so appreciate it.
While Spencer was here, he checked over a bunch of my other stuff…snowblower, mower, generator…
He ordered parts for them all and offered to check them over when he comes. WOW! That is so appreciated and so thoughtful.
As I say, I am “all girl”. I know nothing about mechanical stuff so help from my kids and sons-in-law is so helpful. I’m a lucky Momma to have so many helpers….a big shout out to Spencer on this one for sure!!
Yay spencer !!!
Whew! I know how maddening that BEEP can be, Jo. Three cheers for Spencer to the rescue!!
I’ve also had trouble figuring out which smoke detector was beeping, and I only have 4 on one floor. And one time it turned out to be the carbon monoxide detector. I can’t imagine having as many as you do on multiple floors. My husband isn’t very savvy on some home repair issues. He often relies on his brother who used to be a building inspector. Isn’t it great to have som e professional help in the family?
Our home inspector told us to buy the cheapest smoke detectors but replace them every year. I didn’t do it but we do change the battery every time we change the clocks backwards and forward each season. We had one drive us nuts because the bedrooms in our house are isolated and we have smoke alarms in each bedroom, hall and bathroom. We finally just changed them all and that stopped that. Good that your SIL can do this for you. Hooray Spencer!
I had that happen recently, an alarm went off at 10 pm. Even when I finally figured out it was the one outside the master bedroom in the hallway, the ceiling is 14 feet up and no way could I do much about it. I battled it with a broom handle for a while till I could at least knock the unit out of the ceiling and proceed to knock the battery out of it. Imagine my surprise when it continued beeping even without a battery. I finally gave up and left it to beep, closed my bedroom door and went to bed. I was so tired from battling the alarm, I managed to sleep the night. I messaged my son at 8 am knowing he would be up and he came over, put in a new battery and slid it back in place. Thank goodness for the alarms, but thank goodness for family as well.
Woohoo Spencer! it is wonderful to have such wonderful help and I know I would be lost fixing somethings on my own. I often resort to watching 2 or 3 u tubes on how to fix something and then give it a whirl. If all else fails, I give a shout out for some help. Smoke detectors are one of those things that are truly necessary, so glad you got yours fixed.
You have great helpers for almost any problem that has come up. Love hearing about your helpers small and tall.
I went through the exact same thing with a smoke detector. I can verify how frustrating it is when you can’t locate “the one”. Lucky you having a helpful son-in-law!
You have such wonderful children and their spouses!! I thought you did great just to replace the batteries! I’m like you – wouldn’t have a clue how to handle something like that.
This has happened to me, too. It is maddening! Battery beeps I can handle, with replacement of either the battery or the unit. But years ago, we had a house with an awful problem. There was no door between the kitchen and the hallway to the bedrooms. Often, just steam from a bubbling fry pan in the kitchen would set off the hallway smoke detector! Even with the stove exhaust vent on, it would go off. I brought in an electrician who had no solution to offer. He said smoke detectors can’t tell the difference between steam and smoke. I finally had to put a plastic shower cap over the detector and then remove it after cooking was done. I don’t miss that house!! That said, apparently there are now “Smart” wifi-enabled smoke detectors that connect to apps where you can quickly silence false alarms. They are expensive and of course you have to carry your phone with you…but I’d have gladly splurged to spare the aggravation.
We had a house fire in Dec. 2018. During the renovation, all new smoke detectors were installed. I learned during this process that they need to be completely replaced every 10 years. We have a detached guest house where we lived while our house was being repaired and the detectors in that building were 17 years old – so while the electrician was here I had him replace those. So now, every detector on the property is on the same time frame. Just mentioning this because it’s not just batteries that need replacement.
Vava, thanks for the heads up!
I so agree with you Jo! Both of my sons-in-law are wonderful to my husband and I. My daughter-in-law is also definitely a keeper! I could not have picked better choices for my children and they all go above & beyond for my husband & I. I feel so blessed by them. I can certainly identify!!! Hugs,
On the smoke alarm packaging it says that intermittent beeping that lasts after changing the battery means you should buy a new smoke alarm.
I’m sure Jo no longer has the smoke detector packaging it came in at this point in time 8 years later!
Kathy, I didn’t know that. When the construction workers put the hard-wired ones in, I never even saw a box so wouldn’t have had a chance to have read it. I’m sure it’s one of those things my husband would have known and I didn’t.
Awwww what a refreshing story in the middle and end! I know beeping smoke detectors can really drive one quite batty. Glad it got fixed! Yay for your kids being so supportive and generous with their time and skills with you. You are one blessed woman, Jo.
I live in dry Arizona and have this beeping problem every so often. The instructions for the aIarms were left by a former owner. It said this could be caused by dust. So I used mt dust buster and it solved the problem. I put the date on the batteries with a black marker when I change them. Sometimes the batteries are new and they start beeping. The first time this happened I had been in my condo only a few days and had no ladder. My neighbor helped me out.
Beeping fire alarms are maddening!!! We moved into a extremely well maintained house in September and the people even left a note saying when filters and batteries were last changed. My husband went to a business conference in late January (during a Polar Vortex) and the fire alarm goes off at 2am!!! My daughter, 4 year old grandson, and I all freaked. I did a quick sweep of the house while daughter stood by ready to call 911. No fire anywhere so opened up doors and aired out the house again as we had oven smoke earlier. Same thing the next night. Come to find out, the fire alarms were 20 years old and needed replaced which my husband did when he returned home. There are dates or codes that tell you the age of your alarms so please check them and replace if over 10 years old.
I can certainly sympathize with the beeping smoke detector. We have about 12 smoke detectors in our house. One night at 1 AM all 12 were beeping. We rushed out of bed trying to see where the fire was. Fortunately, there was none. But the beepers kept going. We pulled the batteries out of each alarm and the beeping continued. It was crazy and driving us and the dog insane with the noise. We called our security company and couldn’t reach anyone. After much online research we discovered there was an alarm in the basement that was wired to all the other alarms and it was warning us that the battery needed changing by sounding all alarms. Don’t want to relive that experience so we now have on our calendar to change the battery in the master alarm every three years as the alarm says.