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Smoke alarms save lives – check your batteries regularly

December 4, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

With the recent time change and turning your clocks back an hour, it is also recommended that you use the change as a reminder to check the batteries in your home smoke alarms.

By law, every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas.

Most fatal fires occur at night when people are asleep. Often, victims are overcome by smoke and never wake up.

Working smoke alarms give you the precious time you need to escape a fire.

It is the homeowner’s responsibility to install and maintain smoke alarms on every storey of their home and outside sleeping areas.

It is a landlord’s responsibility to ensure their rental properties comply with the law and ensure their buildings are safe.

If you are a tenant of a rental property and do not have the required number of smoke alarms, contact your landlord immediately. It is against the law for tenants to remove the batteries or tamper with the alarm in any way.

Smoke alarms come in different models with varying features and applications, so choosing the right one can be confusing. You should familiarize yourself with the different alarms to make an educated decision.

Smoke alarms can be powered by hard-wired electricity or by batteries. If you are installing an electrically powered alarm, it is recommended that it have a battery-powered backup alarm in case of a power failure.

Most smoke alarms employ either ionization or photoelectric technology. Ionization alarms may respond slightly faster to flaming-type fires.

Photoelectric alarms may be quicker at detecting slow, smouldering fires. Consider having both types of alarms in your home. 

Smoke alarms with a pause button are highly recommended. The pause feature permits the alarm to be temporarily silenced without disconnecting the power source.

Smoke alarms must be installed on each storey of the home and outside sleeping areas.

Because smoke rises, smoke alarms should be installed on the ceiling. If this is not possible, install the alarm high on the wall and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Avoid placing smoke alarms too close to bathrooms, windows, ceiling fans, and heating and cooking appliances.

You should test your smoke alarm monthly by pressing the test button on the alarm. When the test button is pressed, the alarm should sound.

If the alarm fails to sound, make sure the battery is installed correctly, or install a new one.

If the alarm still fails to sound, replace it with a new one.

Install a new battery at least once a year or as recommended by the manufacturer. Install a new battery if the low-battery warning sounds or if the alarm fails to sound when tested.

All smoke alarms wear out. Replace them every 10 years.

Smoke alarms are your first defence and warning when a fire has happened or is about to happen.

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