When you move into or buy a new home, no one hands you a guide to how the smoke detectors work. They "chirp," which really means shriek loudly, and you occasionally have to put new batteries in them.

That random chirp at 2:13 a.m. is enough to make a grown man question his life choices. You changed the battery. You pressed ...

Each home security system has its own set of cues and meanings, and you'll need to consult with your manual to work them out. There are, however, a few universal warning sounds used for most household ...

Between letting the whole house know when you overcook something, needing to replace the batteries at least yearly and — if you take too long to do that — the constant chirping, many people see, or ...

The first time most people hear the quiet chirp of a smoke detector in the dead of winter, it feels like a minor nuisance. It ...