At 11pm, after BB was fast asleep, and when I was nearly asleep, I was suddenly perked into wakefulness by a tentative 'beep' noise. I lay there, alert, wondering 'what now?'.
The battery on the smoke detector, mounted just outside our bedroom, had finally died. It continued to beep every ten minutes (I timed it) and apparently growing in confidence. BB stayed asleep, and I was grateful that one of us might be functional come the daytime.
I must have dozed off eventually, after a couple of hours listening to audiobooks on my headphones, only to be gently shaken awake by BB.
'Did you hear that alarm?', he asked.
'Yes, the battery on the smoke alarm has died.'
'Ah'. He appeared to roll over and go back to sleep. Actually he lay there for a while working out how long we had had the detectors, he told me this morning. Not knowing this, I tossed and turned, wishing I was asleep...
BB nipped round to Screw fix and bought replacements, which are now fitted, tested and working.
It's around 7pm, and I'm ready for an early night.
So, no blog post tonight, hang on, what is this if not a post? I
Why is it that smoke detector batteries never die during the day?
ReplyDeleteIf someone could market smoke detectors guaranteed to only die in the daytime they could corner the market.
DeleteOh, I feel for you, Kirsten - the day following a night like that (and many of us have them) can be a real loss. Hope you had a book / music / some simple stitching to keep you going until your early bed-time.
ReplyDeleteI did avoid all the complicated tasks lined up for this week! Monday is a good night for tv luckily so we just slumped in front of the box.
DeleteThose beeps in the night can be very annoying!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good opportunity to practise stoicism.... π
DeleteMy husband changes the batteries in our smoke detectors on 1st Jan of every year. Easy to remember to do so. Yes, there will still be charge left in the old batteries, but better safe than sorry. Alison
ReplyDeleteApparently these are a self-contained unit that last for approximately 10 years. Maybe they seemed a good idea at the time? Or perhaps they were market leaders? Who knows. I expect I'll be reposting this in ten years time.
DeleteSmoke detectors - yes.
ReplyDeleteI have a firefighter in my house... I don't even know if I would have a smoke detector otherwise. But I'm definitely in favor of one.
It is the kind of thing you must have, and hope you will never need π
DeleteHugs.
ReplyDeleteWe had a malfunctioning smoke alarm the other week and that was in the middle of the night as well. Why is it always at night? It's like the inanimate objects have a mischievous side and wait to ambush. I hope that you recover from the sleepless night.
Recovery in progress... was waylaid by box of maltezers though...
DeleteHow annoying but reassuring to have smoke alarms. Our local Fire Service do Safety Days and visit different areas and will check and replace if necessary fire alarms all free but donations can be made. Hope you catch up on sleep. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteA couple of 'sensible' night's sleep should do it!
DeleteIt is so aggravating when the battery alarm sounds and incredibly difficult to ignore. I hope you caught up on your sleep.
ReplyDeleteZzzzzing along nicely, thank you π
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