Short chirping sounds usually mean your alarm needs a new battery. If your alarm starts to chirp, immediately put in a new battery. Then hold down the test button for a few seconds to see if this solved the problem. If your alarm doesn’t successfully make a long, loud “beep” when you hold down the test button after giving it fresh batteries, in most cases the entire alarm needs to be replaced. It may be too old; smoke alarms are only designed to be reliable for about 10 years, and carbon monoxide alarms are only designed to be reliable for about 5 to 7 years. Or it may have died sooner than designed. (Save your receipt and the manufacturer’s instructions when putting in new alarms!)
We recommend replacing all batteries at the same time, to lessen the chance that you’ll end up dealing with another chirping battery soon after replacing the battery in one alarm.
