Daylight Saving and smoke alarms

Today we put our clocks forward one hour. This is the beginning of Daylight Saving time.

Listen to September 24th 2011 and March 29th 2012 to hear about Daylight Saving in NZ.

The New Zealand Fire Service suggests that this is a good time to check all smoke alarms in your house. Test the batteries and make sure that they are working. Smoke alarms save lives, but only if they are working. We change our clocks twice a year so think about your smoke alarms twice a year.

The New Zealand Fire Service recommends long-life photo-electric smoke alarms. They have a light beam, and smoke from a fire blocks the light beam. These alarms cost more but they last about 10 years and you do not need to change the battery.

Vocabulary

 recommend – suggest, give you a good idea
 photo- this prefix means light e.g. photograph, photosynthesis
 beam – ray of light
 block – stop the light