Jeff and the Midnight Chirp…

It’s happened to everyone. Daylight savings time started weeks ago and everyone said “you should change the smoke detector batteries.”

The spend-thrift in me thought, “why would I recycle batteries that haven’t died yet?” I’m on a budget and I never planted my battery tree. (I probably don’t have the right kind of soil anyway).

So I stood firm and didn’t change the batteries. Then, late one night my eyelids sprung open as I was sure that I had heard a distinct “chirp.” I know my cats don’t make that kind of sound and my wife is completely silent through the night.  So I laid in bed casting my gaze to the smoke detector in the room trying to remember if the beep sounded nearby or had been muffled by closed doors.  I waited, holding my breath for fear I would miss the next dying battery alert.  Alas, I heard nothing while the minutes passed (as did my opportunity to sleep).  I must have imagined it.

Then the next night. Chirp!  It happened again, but only once.  As long as Jen doesn’t wake up I’ll just change it tomorrow.  Unfortunately, the amnesia of the morning fell upon me and it went several days before the last bit of juice gave out in my valiant little 9-volt and it fully expired in the middle of the night where the single sound continued every 60 seconds until I could ignore it no longer and I threw my bed covers off in a fit of groggy rage.

I banged around the house with a stepladder and a fresh battery until I found the gasping alarm and replaced the power source.

It got me thinking though. Why was I only plagued with this annoyance at the witching hour? Turns out,  it isn’t spiteful gremlins at work but actually rational science.  A battery works by a chemical reaction to create voltage and create power.

If you’re someone who turns down your heat at night, the lower temperature causes a reduction in chemical reaction which in-turn restricts the energy supply to your life-saving device, the smoke detector.  This causes it to cry out for help in the most annoying way and at the most inconvenient time.

 Thanks for reading and I hope this helps!