One of the most important items in your home for the safety of you and your loved ones is the smoke alarm. While conventional smoke alarms do a great job at detecting some kinds of fires, they do a poor job of identifying fast-burning blazes. Many smoke alarms don’t come with carbon monoxide detection either. Additionally, the alarm is useful for warning you when you’re at home, but what if a fire starts in your house when you’re away? The Nest smoke detector, called the Nest Protect, aims to solve all these problems.
Most smoke alarms work by shooting a ray of light between two sensors. When smoke particles in the air reach a certain level, they disrupt the ray of light, setting the alarm off. According to HowStuffWorks, the simplicity of smoke alarm technology means that smoke detectors can be cheaply mass produced. However, these cheap technologies don’t always detect fires before they’re raging, and if you’re away from home during the fire you’re not likely to learn about it until after it’s too late
Nest Smoke Detector Buying Guide
Smart smoke detectors are a specialty item. They cost much more than typically mass-produced smoke detectors, but in exchange they provide excellent fire detection and peace of mind for the user. One of the most prominent smart smoke detector manufacturers is Nest. Their Nest Protect system connects with the wifi network in your home and can also backup to cellular data in order to notify you when there’s a fire in your home.
Image source: https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/17/5318974/nest-protect-review
The Nest Protect integrates seamlessly with other Nest smart home products and products from other manufacturers, making it a good solution for smoke detection, even if you don’t have other Nest products in your home. The alarm incorporates two types of sensors to detect smoke from different types of fires: the smoldering kind and the open flame. It also comes standard with an included carbon monoxide detector to notify you of gas leaks within your home.
Nest Smart Home Setup
While Nest Protect can stand on its own as a product, many users choose to incorporate it into a total smart home solution from Nest. Nest is probably most famous for their thermostat that learns your routines and what temperature you like your home to be during different parts of the day, making your home more comfortable while saving energy. WIRED has found that the thermostat is easy to set up, as long as your wiring is compatible, and pays for itself over the course of its lifespan. Nest also offers motion sensors, locks, security cameras, and a smart doorbell for a complete home security package, but they do charge a monthly fee for storage of the video footage and security monitoring. The thermostat and security cameras make PCMag’s list of best smart home products.
These devices when combined with the Nest Protect smoke alarm create a complete smart home solution that allows you to monitor and even control your home from one single dashboard. This makes your home safer and more efficient, offering peace of mind not just from fire, but also from theft and intrusion.
Does Nest Make the Best Smoke Detector: Guide to Benefits
Multiple reviews have found the Nest is the best smart smoke detector. The Nest smoke detector has several core benefits and advantages over a traditional smoke alarm:
Remote notifications
The Nest Protect can notify you of fire or carbon monoxide incidents even if you’re away from home. Popular Science found that this feature was one of the biggest selling points for any smart smoke alarm, but the Nest does this especially well with its intuitive interface and notifications. This feature is especially important for families with children that stay with a nanny or babysitter or teenagers at home alone.
Fewer false alarms
ArsTechnica found over the course of a four month test that the Nest Protect had fewer false alarms than the competition. This is due to the use of multiple sensors and smarter analysis of particulate matter in the sensors. The alarm was rarely set off by steam or accidentally burning dinner a little while cooking.
It talks to you
That’s right, before setting off the alarm, the Nest Protect speaks out loud to let you know that something is burning in the kitchen. This means you can turn the toaster off and not have to stand under the smoke alarm waving a magazine just to get it to turn off.
It tests itself
You’re to test your fire alarms once a month, but who does that? The Nest Protect tests itself quietly once a month to make sure everything’s working. Be sure to check the batteries, so you will never be woken by a chirping smoke alarm again.
Motion sensor
The smoke alarm has a built in light. If you need to get up in the middle of the night for a glass of water, the Nest Protect lights your way. It also lights your way out of the house, should you have a fire in the middle of the night.
