Why do I hear the low battery "chirp" if the battery is new?

Any of these situations can cause a low battery chirp:

  • Does your smoke alarm have a separate silence button? If so, the button may have been pressed by mistake. The alarm will now "chirp" once a minute for up to 15 minutes.
  • Are you sure it's the smoke alarm? Other devices have similar low battery chirps or warning tones. The source of a single chirp is often hard to pinpoint. Be sure to check wall outlets that may have other devices like carbon monoxides alarms in use.
  • Even "new" batteries may not be fresh. If batteries are stored, especially in cold areas like refrigerators, they lose their charge more quickly. Always check the freshness date on the package when buying new batteries.