When the temperature drops, a lot of homes suddenly sound like they are hosting a flock of electronic birds. Those short, sharp chirps from your smoke alarms are not random, and they tend to cluster ...

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It’s happened to all of us: That annoying low-battery chirp that seems to go off only in the middle of the night, or the smoky dinner dish that trips the sensors. We’re talking ...

An ear-splitting smoke alarm siren is one of the worst midnight surprises. But it's even worse when your detector keeps beeping in the middle of the night but then stops and acts perfectly normal ...

When the battery powering a smoke detector begins to go bad, it emits a periodic "chirp" to alert the home's occupant to change the battery. But a survey commissioned by a smoke detector manufacturer ...

When you move into or buy a new home, no one hands you a guide to how the smoke detectors work. They "chirp," which really means shriek loudly, and you occasionally have to put new batteries in them.

It happens to everyone: the annoying low-battery chirp that seems to go off only in the middle of the night, or the smoky dinner dish that trips the sensors on your smoke detector. Consumer Reports ...

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Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. Ever wonder why smoke alarms always seem to chirp in the middle of the ...