DIY guideElectronics and smart home

Test the security system and change the sensor batteries

Tell the alarm company you're testing, put the panel in test mode, trip each door, window and motion sensor, and swap any weak battery.

8 steps

Tap a step to watch it again.

Call your monitoring company and say you're testing, so a test alarm doesn't send anyone.
On the keypad or in the app, choose test mode or walk test. The manual says how.
Open each door and window that has a sensor: the panel should chime or show it.
Walk through each room with a motion sensor and watch its light blink.
Press the test button on each smoke and CO alarm that's linked to the system.
Use a sturdy step stool, never a chair.
Pop the cover off each sensor the panel says is low, swap its battery for the same kind, and snap it shut.
Turn test mode off, then call the monitoring company to check they got each signal.
A sensor that still won't show with a new battery, or a panel that keeps beeping a trouble signal: ask Handyman for an alarm technician.

Handyman says: Dead sensor? I'll find an alarm tech.

Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.