Guess what time it is #ChangeYourClock and your smoke detector

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ChangeYourClock #CollectiveBias

Yes! I’m counting down the days till the time change, I love when we fall back! Do you? Fall is one of my favorite seasons in the year and the time change to me is an extra bonus. I struggle all year with the change when we jump ahead, I just can not adjust and catch up.

Time change isn’t just about getting an extra hour or losing an extra hour for me for years it was and still is a reminder to change the batteries in all fire alarms in the house. It took me years to figure out that my fire alarm in the house actually had batteries, you see it is hard wired and NEVER stops as long as we have power, I checked it each year and it worked perfect so I never thought about it twice why I should even look for a battery or change it, but when I found out that Energizer® has partnered with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) for 28 years on the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery program, and they have an incredibly important goal: To change behavior and save lives! I took a closer look at our smoke detector and realized that it still needs a battery change twice a year!

If you have a smoke detector that has been in your home for ages and you never changed batteries, chances are it is hard wired, which think about it, what if you do have a fire, electrical fires are very common, do you really think you smoke detector will work? Yeah… I don’t think so either and that is now my mission to educate people for the last 6 years to check your smoke alarms. Replace batteries twice a year, make it a habit to change them whether they need it or not when you change the time, because lives matter! All lives matter and this is one simple way to ensure that you keep your family safe!

Energizer® has been amazing in teaching me and learning about how to keep my family safe. Energizer® started the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery program 28 years ago because they care about helping to keep families all across America safe. Throughout this important program, they have donated more than 5 million batteries in coordination with local fire departments to help make sure more families have working smoke alarms. AMAZING!!

Recently in the Tampa Bay area we had a very horrific fatal fire, it broke my heart to hear on the news that a grandmother and her 3 young grandchildren all died in a house fire and I was in tears when I heard that their smoke detectors were not working or even non existence. It could have had a totally different outcome if she had working smoke detectors. Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half. They provide an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape. On average, families have less than 3 minutes from the time the first smoke alarm sounds to escape a fire.

One thing I love to do and always did with my kids is talk about fire safety. Your kids will keep you accountable. They’re good at reminding. We teach them to follow rules, and they love it when they can remind us to “follow the rules” too. Make it a rule in your house: When the time changes, so do the batteries in your smoke detectors. Kids love coloring sheets, check out a few simple ones that will be a hit with your little ones.

Another thing people always ignore is if you do have a fire detector that is running fully on batteries (which I highly recommend) ignore the warning peeps that the battery is running low, if you hear it replace it ASAP. Don’t put it off till tomorrow. It takes 1 9Volt per smoke detector usually and you can always pick up a package at Walmart during your regular shopping trip; I stocked up for our time change and got the Energizer® MAX® 9V right in the checkout line, making it easy to remember and grab.

It’s never too late to make a change, start now! Check your smoke detectors, add it to your calendar to remind you to change batteries when you change your clock and ensure you and your family is safe.

I made a printable reminder, I’m sure you saw it above, just right click save or right click and print and laminate it, stick it on your fridge so you have a constant reminder.

Have you checked your batteries and your smoke detectors lately? Would love to hear your routine to keep your family safe.