Ask Adrian: How do I stop ­constant beeping from my alarm?

Answer

This is a very general question, and I’ll get to the most common solution below. But there was a specific issue with a particular alarm system last week, from HKC. Social media blew up for a few hours with customers plagued by beeping going off throughout the night. The company acknowledged the issue and fixed it. Ass far as I’m aware, it seems to have been resolved.

If that’s not what you’re referring to, it could be one of your smoke alarms. This is a fairly common, and is usually easily fixed. What normally happens is that the battery is out of juice and it’s letting you know this through a loud beep every 30 or 60 seconds. This can drive a household nuts, particularly if it happens in the middle of the night.

In most cases, the solution is simply to change that battery, almost invariably a nine-volt model (one of those rectangular ones with the two circular metallic ridges). The trick, though, is actually being able to open the alarm. If it’s a circular one, it’s usually a case of squeezing the rim and then rotating it to open. But it may require a tool accessory, such as a screwdriver, to help jimmy it open. I’ve no idea why smoke alarm companies can’t make more ergonomically usable products.

When you’ve changed the battery, you may (depending on the alarm) have to ‘test’ it by holding your finger down on the button and letting it blare. A very good tip here is to wear headphones of some kind before doing this, preferably noise-cancelling ones.

There are some other circumstances in which your smoke alarm’s beeping might not be down to a drained battery. These could include a smudged circuit, dust clogging up some other part of the alarm or an otherwise faulty unit. This last possibility should be quite rare as smoke alarms aren’t complicated and usually come with regulatory quality guarantees.​

Question: My kids are using ChatGPT and I want to try it. Where do I start?. — Catherine Molloy

Answer

The website — openai.com. You’ll need to sign up by creating an account. You can use it there for free, or pay €18 a month for a more advanced version with more web access. Then just ask it (or ‘prompt’) something in the text box. The more detail you give in the prompt, the more accurate and complete the answer will be. A tip: double-check anything factual it tells you as it often ‘hallucinates’.

​Email your questions to ­aweckler@independent.ie