Q: Is it necessary for a resident to contact maintenance for service to have their air conditioning/heat filters and the smoke alarm batteries changed or are they on a schedule? 

Great question. Filters are replaced twice a year, in October and April. Residents may purchase their own filters if they prefer a certain brand or quality and we will gladly install them, or we will simply come and replace them with the filters we stock on those two occasions. If a resident requests more frequent replacements, we are glad to accommodate them; they just need to let us know.

Since our smoke detectors operate on 120 volt batteries, they generally last for years; the batteries are for power failure back-up. The detectors are self-monitoring and will signal a chirp if they detect a battery failure. Once this occurs, the resident should contact us and we will replace the batteries in all of their smoke detectors. The detectors in all apartments are tested with the nurse call testing performed by IT each year. If a detector fails during testing, it is reported to us and we replace it immediately. We are always glad to replace batteries for any resident who requests replacement.

Thank you for another great question, and please keep them coming.