If college is your first experience of living away from home, then you may have to learn to think for yourself. You may find yourself surrounded by smart technology, much of which relies on batteries, during power outages. Possibly you may like to file this student battery safety advice away somewhere, and refresh your memory occasionally. Because personal safety is not something we should take for granted.
Student Battery Safety Advice in Your Home-From-Home
Perhaps the most important battery to keep your eye on, is the one in the smoke alarm where you sleep. Fire officials recommend smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms for on-and off-campus housing. Insist on your rights, test the alarm monthly, and report batteries running low.
There is no way to smoke safely health officials insist, and that goes for vapes and e-cigarettes too. A dropped, smoldering cigarette butt can start a fire. However, nowadays the lithium-ion batteries in vapes and e-cigarettes are potentially more dangerous. Never throw these in the garbage. Find a battery recycling point.
No student battery safety advice would be complete without mentioning recharging e-bikes safely. Their lithium-ion batteries should not overheat and catch fire, but they occasionally do. Never recharge e-bikes inside on- or off-campus housing. Find a safe place outside, that their original charging cables can reach.
More Advice on Working Safely with Batteries and Electricity
Ask your student adviser or off-campus landlord to confirm the power rating of the wall sockets inside your accommodation. Never overload them with power-hungry space heaters, and portable air conditioners. Avoid using power strips, and extension cords to keep adding appliances.
And finally, please be careful when recharging personal equipment including phones, tablets, and laptops. Set them down on a hard surface so air can circulate around them. Check their temperature regularly. If they become hot, as opposed to warm, seek advice from the store where you purchased them.
More Information
Daylight Saving Ending – Check Smoke Alarms
Time to Change Those Smoke Alarm Batteries
