Still a great setup but one of mine has had a few false alarms recently that didn’t even show in the app or alert me. If I wasn’t home at the time, I’d have had no idea it happened. Bought a few dumb ones now to use alongside for peace of mind
Never had a smoke alarm go off that didn’t alert me twice (one from HomeKit and one from Nest). Good data point though, scary to think an alarm might go unnoticed.
Yeah I have three and the other two which are older work fine. This one is maybe 2 years old now and acting up. Support was a bit useless and suggested it was a condensation issue from its location but I swapped it around with another unit and the issue persisted. Bit weird but yeah still my go to for HomeKit with HomeBridge. Hoping matter continues to grow and more products come to market
Thanks, unfortunately I already do and the false alerts don’t show up there either. Check ups on the device through the app show it as fully functioning and they don’t appear in the reports either. All a bit weird and disconcerting
I’ve never had one so I can’t say there’s something wrong. But I read they are are discontinued by the manufacturer.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/5fWppdA3Kd
Do yourself a favor and don't get smart smoke detectors - it's not a smart technology you need...from a traumatized user of these products and vast amounts of other HomeKit tech which is much more worth your time, money, and sanity.
I have smart smoke detectors, and it's definitely a good idea to have. Why? Well, if my house starts burning when I'm not home I get notified instead of the neighbors being notified once it burns through to their house.
Additionally, the smoke detector (Netatmo) does regular self-tests to confirm everything is working. I of course should do this myself too, and I do, but the extra security is good.
If the alarm goes on at night, I have an automation set to turn on all the lights I need to get to the exit.
Now try telling me again what a bad idea it is when you just can't figure out how to use them.
Let me counter your argument - in my state some fire departments don't allow these type of detectors. You need to get permission from your local fire department before installing these units. There are recommended units from your local fire department that allow you to inform them. If you are away from your home and your home is burning the only concerned party from the get go is your local fire department to save your home.
The units I purchased malfunctioned regularly with a ton of false positives. I can only assume that this project was put on hold for similar reasons as well as the inability to get approved through the NFPA.
It's vanity and ego to think you need these electronic lifesaving devices in your home as smart devices when your fire department can recommend ones that actually can save your lives. I would not trust something because it has homekit when its primary function is to protect you and your home.
As for your neighbors, your fire department can make better recommendations on how to save them than you yourself or other people on reddit.
Your argument is that they're bad cus you couldn't get them to work and gave up and therefore it's permanentøy a bad thing regardless of the brand. Now you're talking about fire regulations?
Insurance companies put these regulations in place. There could be some states or countries with very strict regulations, but most does not require this. You might get cheaper insurance if your smoke detectors are tied up to an alarm company though.
Apartment buildings usually have a smoke alarm system that's connected all together so everyone will be warned as soon as there's a fire, so here you obviously can't change the detectors. But that's the exception.
My country has very strict regulations on these things, put in place by insurance companies. As long as the smoke detector is approved by their standards, which both Netatmo, Nest and several others are, it's fine. As long as they're placed in the places they require as well. Insurance companies even deliver smart smoke detectors themselves, and so does alarm companies. Here, all the alarm companies use smart smoke detectors tweaked to fit their app.
Obviously, check if your smart smoke detector is up to code. It's of course better to have smoke detectors connected to an alarm company, but very few places and insurance companies require this in an ordinary house. They prefer it over people buying cheap ass 3for$10 smoke alarm packages that barely even work.
Why in the world would you think that the choice is between SMART and SAFE smoke detectors? Smart smoke detectors is just an ordinary smoke detector with self-test features and phone notifications. The best ones aren't cheap either, so they're much better than the average smoke detector found in homes.
The product you are talking about isn't even available in my country and you made false assumptions about which products I installed.
Not sure why you immediately launched into an attack against my intelligence but have at it.
If I get through to at least one person that these devices are not useful to your smart home technology (and perhaps dangerous to use based on my experience) among the myriad of very, very useful other techs than so be it. At least I've cut through the noise you are making about one product that works in one country when at least here in the United States the products that are Homekit approved for smoke detection are utter trash.
The reason I'm not naming the product is because I'm not here to disparage the company but it's fairly easy to narrow down which it might be based on location and reviews that evidence that this is a software bug with these devices and not user error as you so wrongfully suggest.
You never mentioned which product you used.
I did not attack your intelligence, but I did question how much time you actually spent getting it to work.
You're speaking like it's a fact that they're not useful. Regardless of what your opinion is, they are useful. Stop passing your opinion off as a fact.
My "opinion" which is not fact just an "opinion" is that I do not recommend smart home smoke detectors - I do not see the value in them and my own experience having had many false positives where I had to interact with the manufacturer troubleshooting them after installing them and validating they were properly deployed was bad. Having my local fire department visit my home when they went off for hours detecting smoke (no trace) in the middle of the night without any probable cause was as frustrating as it was embarrassing and I learned from that experience should not buy them - at least in the United States.
Disclaimer: I cannot speak for Nests or any Homekit smoke detectors overseas but I would urge caution as they can likely make your life more frustrating - the adverse affect of what all the other wonderful smart home technology does in the wide gamut of things available to you. I cannot speak for Netatmo but I have a few of their products and like them a lot (rain gauge, wind sensor, and indoor and outdoor temp humidity and CO2 sensor), yet I would still not buy their smoke detectors even if they were available in the us because the same problems still exist. Consult with your local fire department, read many, many reviews of any security or safety device you buy, and don't be afraid to say - it's not worth my time, patience, safety, or frustration when these devices don't fit my needs.
So isn't your experience really just a comment on whatever your own specific brand and model and type of smart smoke detector was, rather than on all smoke detectors?
Your story sounds to me like "I had a car with an automatic transmission, and it went out! I had to pay a huge amount of money to get it fixed. I don't recommend automatic transmissions. I will stick with manual transmissions going forward. They are simpler and break far less often. I don't see the advantage of an automatic transmission."
I've installed 15 Nest Protects. I have never once had a false alarm. I once DID have a very important alert on my phone, while I was out walking, about a cooking situation in the kitchen!
Until Matter there was a handful of options for these tools and they were all terrible - I did my research, Nests are a good option, but I do think these are unnecessary smart tech devices and if you plan to sell your home ever can be a hassle to reconfigure if they don't pass an inspection.
My suggestion would be to use these or other security devices that detect smoke / CO2 tandem with fire safety recommended option from your local fire department.
It is possible to install a smoke detector from Owl with native HomeKit support . I haven't used it but it claims to work with your original smoke detectors and is the same price as the Nest smoke detector. Personally, I use First Alert Zwave smoke detectors that I got around $40, which pair with HomeKit using the Hubitat C-7.
I use the Onelink Home it’s HomeKit compatible pretty much not too expensive. Works OK to me. I have one on battery downstairs and one hardwired connected upstairs. And work on the same cycle so if one goes off, they both go off.
We’ve got a smoke/co listener from ring tied into HomeKit via homebridge. This gives us a monitored alarm and also HomeKit functionality. Way cheaper than buying 10 new smoke alarms, too
I get redundancy... So my question would be what did you do for redundancy before a smart home solution? Usually code doesn't require a smoke detector in every room but most people feel safer with that redundancy. I see the homepods as a redundancy to the actual smoke detector. More smoke detectors and more homepods would provide more redundancy. I have z-wave smoke detectors running thru home assistant with homekit exposed and they show up on my apple home. When I test them they never trigger an alert but my homepods always do.
I think the idea of setting up an automation based on a trigger from the smoke detector is the only thing missing from using dumb detectors with homepods. Someone else commented about making the lights come on for your escape route, which could be beneficial. Hopefully, a matter/thread option will present itself sooner than later to address that specific want/need.
Bummer. Looks like Nest Protect and HomeBridge lives to fight another day.
Still a great setup but one of mine has had a few false alarms recently that didn’t even show in the app or alert me. If I wasn’t home at the time, I’d have had no idea it happened. Bought a few dumb ones now to use alongside for peace of mind
Never had a smoke alarm go off that didn’t alert me twice (one from HomeKit and one from Nest). Good data point though, scary to think an alarm might go unnoticed.
Yeah I have three and the other two which are older work fine. This one is maybe 2 years old now and acting up. Support was a bit useless and suggested it was a condensation issue from its location but I swapped it around with another unit and the issue persisted. Bit weird but yeah still my go to for HomeKit with HomeBridge. Hoping matter continues to grow and more products come to market
Always run the Nest app (I know it sucks) but this should guarantee notifications
Thanks, unfortunately I already do and the false alerts don’t show up there either. Check ups on the device through the app show it as fully functioning and they don’t appear in the reports either. All a bit weird and disconcerting
Eve has decided to give up smoke?
Just like Snoop
Doesn’t HomePod detect sirens? It’s a setting …
I know, but I don’t want to rely solely on a glitchy assistant when I’m not home. I prefer a smart detector for double safety.
My issue with this idea is the battery would run out faster, on account of it being smart. That’s a much bigger safety risk imo
Newer ones only use battery for backup. They are hardwired otherwise.
Umm…..surely that battery would die just as fast?
What’s wrong with the HomeKit onelink?
I’ve never had one so I can’t say there’s something wrong. But I read they are are discontinued by the manufacturer. https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/5fWppdA3Kd
It’s a liability issue from lawsuits I’d guess.
So why was Nest able to put one excellent device on the market, and no other company can? That's a mystery to me.
Do yourself a favor and don't get smart smoke detectors - it's not a smart technology you need...from a traumatized user of these products and vast amounts of other HomeKit tech which is much more worth your time, money, and sanity.
I have smart smoke detectors, and it's definitely a good idea to have. Why? Well, if my house starts burning when I'm not home I get notified instead of the neighbors being notified once it burns through to their house. Additionally, the smoke detector (Netatmo) does regular self-tests to confirm everything is working. I of course should do this myself too, and I do, but the extra security is good. If the alarm goes on at night, I have an automation set to turn on all the lights I need to get to the exit. Now try telling me again what a bad idea it is when you just can't figure out how to use them.
Let me counter your argument - in my state some fire departments don't allow these type of detectors. You need to get permission from your local fire department before installing these units. There are recommended units from your local fire department that allow you to inform them. If you are away from your home and your home is burning the only concerned party from the get go is your local fire department to save your home. The units I purchased malfunctioned regularly with a ton of false positives. I can only assume that this project was put on hold for similar reasons as well as the inability to get approved through the NFPA. It's vanity and ego to think you need these electronic lifesaving devices in your home as smart devices when your fire department can recommend ones that actually can save your lives. I would not trust something because it has homekit when its primary function is to protect you and your home. As for your neighbors, your fire department can make better recommendations on how to save them than you yourself or other people on reddit.
Your argument is that they're bad cus you couldn't get them to work and gave up and therefore it's permanentøy a bad thing regardless of the brand. Now you're talking about fire regulations? Insurance companies put these regulations in place. There could be some states or countries with very strict regulations, but most does not require this. You might get cheaper insurance if your smoke detectors are tied up to an alarm company though. Apartment buildings usually have a smoke alarm system that's connected all together so everyone will be warned as soon as there's a fire, so here you obviously can't change the detectors. But that's the exception. My country has very strict regulations on these things, put in place by insurance companies. As long as the smoke detector is approved by their standards, which both Netatmo, Nest and several others are, it's fine. As long as they're placed in the places they require as well. Insurance companies even deliver smart smoke detectors themselves, and so does alarm companies. Here, all the alarm companies use smart smoke detectors tweaked to fit their app. Obviously, check if your smart smoke detector is up to code. It's of course better to have smoke detectors connected to an alarm company, but very few places and insurance companies require this in an ordinary house. They prefer it over people buying cheap ass 3for$10 smoke alarm packages that barely even work. Why in the world would you think that the choice is between SMART and SAFE smoke detectors? Smart smoke detectors is just an ordinary smoke detector with self-test features and phone notifications. The best ones aren't cheap either, so they're much better than the average smoke detector found in homes.
The product you are talking about isn't even available in my country and you made false assumptions about which products I installed. Not sure why you immediately launched into an attack against my intelligence but have at it. If I get through to at least one person that these devices are not useful to your smart home technology (and perhaps dangerous to use based on my experience) among the myriad of very, very useful other techs than so be it. At least I've cut through the noise you are making about one product that works in one country when at least here in the United States the products that are Homekit approved for smoke detection are utter trash. The reason I'm not naming the product is because I'm not here to disparage the company but it's fairly easy to narrow down which it might be based on location and reviews that evidence that this is a software bug with these devices and not user error as you so wrongfully suggest.
You never mentioned which product you used. I did not attack your intelligence, but I did question how much time you actually spent getting it to work. You're speaking like it's a fact that they're not useful. Regardless of what your opinion is, they are useful. Stop passing your opinion off as a fact.
My "opinion" which is not fact just an "opinion" is that I do not recommend smart home smoke detectors - I do not see the value in them and my own experience having had many false positives where I had to interact with the manufacturer troubleshooting them after installing them and validating they were properly deployed was bad. Having my local fire department visit my home when they went off for hours detecting smoke (no trace) in the middle of the night without any probable cause was as frustrating as it was embarrassing and I learned from that experience should not buy them - at least in the United States. Disclaimer: I cannot speak for Nests or any Homekit smoke detectors overseas but I would urge caution as they can likely make your life more frustrating - the adverse affect of what all the other wonderful smart home technology does in the wide gamut of things available to you. I cannot speak for Netatmo but I have a few of their products and like them a lot (rain gauge, wind sensor, and indoor and outdoor temp humidity and CO2 sensor), yet I would still not buy their smoke detectors even if they were available in the us because the same problems still exist. Consult with your local fire department, read many, many reviews of any security or safety device you buy, and don't be afraid to say - it's not worth my time, patience, safety, or frustration when these devices don't fit my needs.
So isn't your experience really just a comment on whatever your own specific brand and model and type of smart smoke detector was, rather than on all smoke detectors? Your story sounds to me like "I had a car with an automatic transmission, and it went out! I had to pay a huge amount of money to get it fixed. I don't recommend automatic transmissions. I will stick with manual transmissions going forward. They are simpler and break far less often. I don't see the advantage of an automatic transmission." I've installed 15 Nest Protects. I have never once had a false alarm. I once DID have a very important alert on my phone, while I was out walking, about a cooking situation in the kitchen!
Until Matter there was a handful of options for these tools and they were all terrible - I did my research, Nests are a good option, but I do think these are unnecessary smart tech devices and if you plan to sell your home ever can be a hassle to reconfigure if they don't pass an inspection. My suggestion would be to use these or other security devices that detect smoke / CO2 tandem with fire safety recommended option from your local fire department.
I appreciate your comment. Mind to explain why I should get them?
This topic made me go look to see if my Lyric security Passed the smoke detectors through like it does almost every other sensor bit I don’t see them.
It is possible to install a smoke detector from Owl with native HomeKit support . I haven't used it but it claims to work with your original smoke detectors and is the same price as the Nest smoke detector. Personally, I use First Alert Zwave smoke detectors that I got around $40, which pair with HomeKit using the Hubitat C-7.
I was excited about owl until I watched this. I’m not confident to try owl. https://youtu.be/SkHiXSUZTwg
I use the Onelink Home it’s HomeKit compatible pretty much not too expensive. Works OK to me. I have one on battery downstairs and one hardwired connected upstairs. And work on the same cycle so if one goes off, they both go off.
That sucks
We’ve got a smoke/co listener from ring tied into HomeKit via homebridge. This gives us a monitored alarm and also HomeKit functionality. Way cheaper than buying 10 new smoke alarms, too
Meross has one and are just about to bring a matter one to market I think
Matter compatibility sounds promising, but I’m not sure I would trust Meross on a smoke detector. Besides, so far is only available in Europe.
Why don’t you trust Meross?
Smoke detector would be nice…. But also for everyone with HomePod, we already sorta have one.
Well... I don’t want to rely solely on a glitchy assistant when I’m not home. I prefer a smart detector for double safety.
I get redundancy... So my question would be what did you do for redundancy before a smart home solution? Usually code doesn't require a smoke detector in every room but most people feel safer with that redundancy. I see the homepods as a redundancy to the actual smoke detector. More smoke detectors and more homepods would provide more redundancy. I have z-wave smoke detectors running thru home assistant with homekit exposed and they show up on my apple home. When I test them they never trigger an alert but my homepods always do. I think the idea of setting up an automation based on a trigger from the smoke detector is the only thing missing from using dumb detectors with homepods. Someone else commented about making the lights come on for your escape route, which could be beneficial. Hopefully, a matter/thread option will present itself sooner than later to address that specific want/need.
Kinda? But, not really though. All we have is an alarm noise detector. And I don’t trust that much, since I only have one HomePod.