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AMERICAN CANYON – Host, Sarah Rutan: Having smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home is crucial, but it also helps to understand how they function. Today we’re in American Canyon with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Lamine Elabed of LW Construction & Handyman Services to learn more.

Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Lamine Elabed: When you pull your remodel permits on city or county, one of the requirements is for them to check, they are expected to check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors present at your home. And they always have to check that before they sign off on the permit. So, let’s talk about smoke detectors. Smoke detectors save your life, actually. Two-thirds of the deaths, you know, of fire are attributable to lack of a smoke detector or units without batteries. The new state requirement, actually, is for a 10-year life for the lithium battery. You don’t have to replace it. And you cannot access it, stamp of proof, for safety purposes.

We recommend that you use photoelectric units because they trigger the alert of the smoke and the fire before, a lot faster than the ionization units. And remember, the only, the lifespan of a smoke detector is about 8-to-10 years. If you look at the back unit, it has a manufacturer date. After that, you have to replace it. The carbon monoxide detector is a device that will actually detect gas that you cannot see and you cannot smell.

When it sounds, say it’s installed, and you have to grab it with you when it sounds and walk away with it. Take the kids, take the cat and the dog, and walk away, outside. And keep walking away till it stops beeping. The reason for that is the source could be your neighbor. It could be outside of the street, and you don’t know when it’s going to stop, since you cannot see it, you cannot smell it. That’s why it has to be installed where it can be accessed.

Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local, top rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.org.