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Published Saturday, October 31, 2009 12:20 AM

Sun setting on daylight saving

Having an extra hour to sleep in might encourage some to party extra hard on Halloween night, but come Sunday morning, there are a few chores to attend to.

Flip the mattress, wind back the clock, rotate the rugs and check the fire alarms.

Fire officials across the country use daylight-saving time as an opportunity to remind people to check their smoke alarms and replace the batteries if needed.

"It certainly helps if you have something that you really have to do, like change your clocks, that you can tie this to," said Bart Humphreys, a spokesman for the College Station Fire Department.

The U.S. Fire Administration recommends people check their alarms monthly and replace the batteries twice a year.

Humphreys said that's not always needed anymore, because many people now use 10-year lithium batteries instead of alkaline batteries that expire more rapidly.

"People sometimes don't realize that these alarms have a lifespan, too," he said. "When they start getting 8, 9, 10 years old, it's time to replace them."

Fire departments generally recommend a dual-action photoelectric and ionization smoke detector -- which means the device can detect both slow-moving, smoldering flames and fast-burning fires.

Brand new and equipped with a lithium battery, they cost about $25, Humphreys said.

Homeowners who need assistance obtaining a working smoke detector can call 211 to see if they qualify for assistance, he said.

Officially, daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, but many people will set their clocks back an hour before going to bed Saturday night.

The Rev. Matt Idom, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Bryan, said he can usually tell who forgot to change their clocks.

"Spring forward tends to be worse," he said. "Everyone can laugh it off when they're an hour early and go get a cup of coffee. But when you walk in and the preacher's doing Benediction, you have this big oops on your face and everyone knows."




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