The newer-model, sealed-battery smoke detector is required in your home under a new law in the New Year.
Margaret Vaughn (pictured), who represents the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and the Illinois Firefighters Association, says the newer detectors last ten years, and you can’t remove the battery as you can with the old-fashioned detectors. Vaughn says that style has all but disappeared from stores, anyway.
Vaughn, who adds homes built since 1988 have had hard-wired detectors, says the new detectors have a “hush button” which deactivates the device for about twenty minutes. That’s for those whose kitchen, um, misadventures set off the smoke alarm.