This has been mentioned before but it is important enough to mention again. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home are extremely important. The presence of these alone have saved many lives. A smoke/carbon monoxide detector is just what the name implies. They alert you when there is smoke, but more importantly they alert you when there is a presence of carbon monoxide in the air. The smoke part of the detector is most important at night when we're asleep. During the day we can visibly see and smell smoke but at night you might not be able to wake up until it's too late. The smoke detector will hopefully wake you up and alert you to danger.The Carbon Monoxide function of the detector is the most important. Carbon Monoxide is invisible and odorless. It can be emitted from your heater and is a silent killer. If you breathe too much of it you will fall asleep and never wake back up. It is extremely important to keep a dual smoke and carbon monoxide detector above the door of each bedroom in the home. This will ensure that the loud alarm will awake anyone sleeping of the danger of a potential fire or carbon monoxide threat.
Along with having quality detectors in the home they need to be checked once a month to ensure the batteries are still good and they are in good working order. Most detectors have a test button on the front and allows you to test the alarm to make sure they're working. Some of the newer ones also will beep frequently if the batteries are getting low to alert you to change them. If you have one like this don't let this feature fool you into not checking them frequently. Also make sure you have plenty of batteries stocked up for your smoke detector. Some detectors take a 9-volt battery, something you might not have stocked. Add a few packs of these to storage because even in the event of an emergency and you were unable to purchase batteries you still want your detectors to work.
