Observe National Battery Day

February 18 is National Battery Day. The reason for the observance is to understand and appreciate batteries and the part they play in our lives. Batteries are a very common, and useful, source to power many devices either fully or as a back-up. Think about it, how many appliances or devices can you name that house a battery in order to be operational?

Here are a few to consider:

Television remote control
Hearing aids
Radios with battery-back up (ideal for those times when the power might go out)
Your computer
Smoke alarm
Carbon monoxide detector
Flashlights
Wristwatch
Many others!

We understand the importance of electricity in our lives. If the power goes out and we are left in the dark or without a working furnace or with no television to watch or electronic ways to entertain the children, we know what we are missing. Many of these items that run on electricity may also have a battery back-up function.

There are two basic types of batteries:

Disposable – primary batteries
Rechargeable – secondary batteries

Batteries come in a variety of sizes from miniature sizes that are used in hearing aids to batteries that provide back-up power for computer data centers.

Take time on National Battery Day to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Here are some easy steps to do that:

Tell your family that you’re testing the detectors so they aren’t worried that there is a fire.
Enlist a family member to go in a room that is furthest away from the detector being tested and make certain he or she can hear it sounding.
Push and hold the button to make certain it produces a loud noise.
Using a can of spray smoke detector aerosol will let you test the detector to assure it will actually work when exposed to smoke. To turn the detector off you will have to suck the aerosol smoke out of the unit with a vacuum cleaner. It will eventually turn off by itself, but you may not want to wait.
Make it a habit, put it on your calendar and test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors every month.

When you’re testing your smoke detectors, perform a test of your medical alert system. While testing the system isn’t necessary, doing so helps you become more familiar with what to expect in the event you use it during an emergency. You can simply press the button and when one of LifeFone’s professional care agents respond, let them know that you are testing the unit.

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