Last Updated on 8 months by Christopher G Mendla
If you have a home or business alarm system that uses wireless door and window sensors, you should check and replace the batteries on a regular basis.
You might not get a warning that your batteries are dead
If the small batteries in your door and window sensors go dead, opening that door or window will not set off the alarm. Many of the alarm systems, including some monitored commercial systems, will not notify you if a sensor is offline. You think you are protected but in fact, you are vulnerable.
Testing your sensors
Check the status light on the sensor
Most sensors will have a light that will blink when you open the door or window. Make sure that your system is disarmed and open the door or window. If the light blinks, that means that the battery is good. It does not mean that the signal is reaching the alarm system though.
Open the doors and windows individually with the system armed
You can test your sensors buy arming your system and opening the doors and windows one at a time. HOWEVER, you want to be careful if you are on a monitored system so that you don’t create a false alarm. If you are fortunate, your alarm software might give you an indication of the battery level.
Replacing the batteries
To replace the batteries, you need to remove the battery compartment cover. This will vary depending on the brand you have. The trick is to remove the battery cover without breaking the sensor or hurting yourself. In some cases, you need to use the blade of a sharp knife to open the cover. I found that with a little practice, I could pop the covers off. You don’t need to remove the entire sensor.
Make a note of which way the battery is installed. The spring side is almost always the negative side.
Once you have the battery replaced, you can reinstall the sensor or cover and make sure the sensor is working.
You should probably set a regular schedule to replace the batteries. I was able to get eight 23a batteries for under $15 on Amazon. These were Duracell and not an off brand. Once you figure out how to pop the covers off, replacing a dozen sensors should take less than a half hour. I set a calendar reminder to myself to replace the batteries once a year and to check the status lights every 3 months.
Because the sensor is activated when the door is opened, I am assuming that frequently used doors will wear the batteries down faster since the sensor sends a signal when the door is opened.
Summary
A false sense of security is worse, in my opinion, than no security at all.