If there's any smoke, get out first
If the alarm is sounding and you can see or smell smoke, get everyone out of the house and call 111 from outside. Don't stop to find the source or silence the alarm. The steps below are only for chirping, or a false alarm you're sure has nothing burning behind it.
What the sound is telling you
| What it usually means | What to do | |
|---|---|---|
| A single chirp that keeps repeating | The battery is running low | Change the battery, or replace the alarm if the battery is sealed in |
| A chirp from a sealed long-life alarm | The alarm has reached the end of its life | Replace the whole alarm |
| Still chirping after a new battery | A flat battery in another alarm, or an alarm past its date | Check every alarm, and the date on the back |
| A full alarm with no smoke | Steam, cooking fumes, dust or an insect inside | Air the room, press the hush button if it has one, and clean it gently |
| Every alarm sounds at once | Interconnected alarms, where one has detected something | Find which alarm started it, then check that room for smoke |
Stopping a chirp
Find the right alarm
Chirps are hard to place, and the sound bounces off hallways. Stand under each alarm in turn and wait for the next chirp.
Check the date
Twist the alarm off its base and look for a manufacture or replace-by date on the back. Tenancy Services' guide for landlords says long-life photoelectric alarms should be replaced within 8 years of the manufacture date, or sooner if the low battery warning sounds.
Replaceable battery? Change it
Fit a new battery of the type printed on the alarm, put the alarm back on its base and press the test button. A short loud beep means it's working.
Sealed battery? Replace the alarm
A long-life alarm's battery can't be changed. Swap the whole unit for a new photoelectric alarm with a long-life battery, which is the type Fire and Emergency New Zealand recommends.
Test it, then keep testing
FENZ advises pressing the test button on every smoke alarm once a month. It takes a minute and stops the next surprise chirp at 3am.
Hard-wired alarms
Hard-wired alarms are connected to your home's wiring, and many also have a backup battery. The manual will say whether that battery can be changed and how. If the battery isn't the answer, or the alarm chirps, flashes or goes off with nothing wrong, get an electrician to check it rather than pulling it off the ceiling.
In a rental, the landlord has to maintain hard-wired systems to the manufacturer's requirements, so tell your landlord or property manager straight away.
Renting? Who does what
Tenancy Services splits the jobs. Tenants must replace dead batteries in older alarms that have replaceable batteries, must tell the landlord about any problem, and must not damage, remove or disconnect a smoke alarm. So never leave an alarm without its battery just to stop a chirp.
Landlords must make sure the alarms work at the start of each tenancy and keep them in working order. To do that, they can enter the property with 24 hours' notice, between 8am and 7pm. In a boarding house, the landlord replaces expired batteries in shared areas like hallways and kitchens, and tenants replace them in their own rooms.
These rules have teeth. Landlords who don't meet their smoke alarm obligations can face financial penalties of up to $7,200, and tenants up to $4,000.
When the age of the alarm is a mystery
If there's no date on the alarm, it's more than 8 years old, or nobody knows how old it is, Tenancy Services' guide says a landlord will need to replace it to be certain of complying. For your own home, the same logic is sensible: an alarm of unknown age is one you can't rely on.
While you're replacing it, check the alarm is in the right place. FENZ recommends long-life photoelectric alarms in every bedroom, hallway and living area. Our page on smoke alarm rules covers where rentals and new homes must have them.
What you can do, and when to call an electrician
You can
- Change a replaceable battery, and press the test button.
- Swap a battery-only alarm for a new long-life photoelectric one.
- Clean dust off the alarm gently, following the manual.
- Test every alarm once a month.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Hard-wired alarms that keep faulting, or still chirp with a new backup battery.
- Interconnected alarms needed for code compliance, where FENZ suggests a licensed electrician.
- Anything that means touching the home's wiring.
What we'd do
If it's chirping, we'd check the date before buying a battery. Anything past its date, or with no date at all, we'd replace with a long-life photoelectric alarm and be done with batteries for years. If the alarms are hard-wired and misbehaving, we'd get an electrician who fits smoke alarms regularly to look at the whole system rather than one unit.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.