5 Smart Home Fire Prevention Devices Any Homeowner, Airbnb Host, Landlord or Property Manager Should Know About
Gone are the days when you’d leave home and hope for the best that you’d find the house in one piece when you return. These days, you have options on making your fire prevention devices smarter, which can alert you on what’s happening before it’s too late. Whether you’re a homeowner, landlord, or Airbnb host, here are our 5 picks for the best connected fire prevention devices you should know about.
1. Roost Smart 9V Battery for Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
Just switching your existing smoke alarm’s 9V battery could change the game. The Smart 9V Battery connects to WiFi and uses the Roost app (available for iOS and Android) to notify you when the alarm goes off, no matter where you are. Sick of hearing that annoying dying chirp the smoke alarm seems to only make when you’re trying to sleep? The Roost app lets you know the battery needs changing before it gets to that point. Culinary skills not quite up to snuff, resulting in open windows and doors to let the smoke out? For those times and false alarms, you can easily silence the alarm on the app. Invite users (e.g., friends, family, tenants) to monitor your alarms, and see who’s nearby in case of an emergency. The Roost Smart 9V Battery is replaceable and lasts 5+ years. It’s available for $33.15 for one or $55.77 for two.
2. Leeo Smart Alert Smoke/CO Remote Alarm Monitor for iOS and Android
This monitor from Leeo combines monitoring with a nightlight and works with the smoke alarms you already have, whether they’re hardwired or battery-operated. Just plug it in, download the app (available on iOS and Android), and connect to your home WiFi. It listens for changes in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarm frequencies and alerts you as soon as an alarm goes off. You can then choose to listen to the alarm or notify local 911 (based on home address), no matter where you are. If you don’t answer, the app will alert people you added as emergency contacts. You can choose from 16 million colors for the nightlight, and the device also senses temperature and humidity that can help your thermostat control the temperature. Leeo has its own channel on IFTT so you can use it to integrate with other smart devices in your home. It’s available for $49.99.
3. Nest Protect Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm (2nd Generation)
This industrial grade smoke sensor and nightlight alerts you when the alarm goes off, an issue is detected, or batteries need changing, no matter where you are. It’s available in battery-operated and hardwired versions. Once each Nest Protect is connected to WiFi, they’ll automatically connect to each other in your home. When there’s smoke or carbon monoxide detected, the Nest Protect will speak up to let you know where it is before it becomes critical. While you might smell smoke, you won’t smell carbon monoxide, so hearing Nest tell you what the issue is cuts down on worry and lets you relax. If you’ve taken care of an issue and know everything is fine, you can hush the alarm from the app (available for iOS and Android). It uses two wavelengths of light to detect both fast and slow burning fires, shaving seconds off reaction time. The Nest Protect lasts up to 10 years and tests itself automatically. It easily connects with other smart devices in the Works with Nest program. It’s available for $118 for the wired version, and for $119 for the battery version.
4. Wallflower Smart Monitor for Electric Stoves
Recently launched, the Wallflower Smart Monitor for electric stoves makes any existing electric appliance smart. There are two models to choose depending on whether you have a NEMA 10–50R or 14–50R stove outlet installed in your home (the easiest way to tell is to glance behind your stove and if your stove’s power cord is gray, you need the 3-wire version and if its black, you need the 4-wire version). Just plug the Wallflower into the stove’s power outlet, plug its power cord into the Wallflower and download the app (available for iOS and Android). The app will guide you through setup process and you’ll be done in less than 5 minutes. You’ll get notified whenever the stove turns on, if you’ve forgotten to turn it off and you’ve moved about 1000 feet away from the home (it uses geo-fencing), and whether it’s been on for longer than usual (it learns your cooking behavior). You can add up to 10 authorized users to monitor your stove which helps you in case you ever miss a notification as well as monitor up to 3 stoves in different locations. The Wallflower team is currently working on a gas stove version. It’s currently available for $169.
5. Halo+ Smart Smoke and CO Alarm with Weather Alerts
This smoke detector uses 6 different sensors to detect fast and slow fires and carbon monoxide. If there’s a problem, a voice will instantly tell you what’s wrong and where, the Halo lighting ring will illuminate, and you’ll get an alert on your smartphone. It uses NOAA weather radio to alert you to various weather emergencies, and you can customize which alerts you want to receive, such as wildfires or tornadoes. It’s a 120V AC hardwired smoke detector with a battery backup (which lasts up to 10 years) so it keeps working when there’s a power outage. It reads temperature and humidity to profile different kinds of smoke, and can differentiate between a cooking mishap and a serious emergency, so false alarms are reduced. The app (available on iOS and Android) can be used to monitor, silence an alarm, and even watch over multiple properties- great if you’re a landlord or Airbnb host. The lighting ring can be customized and controlled in the Halo app or by speaking to Alexa. The Halo works with Lowe’s Iris, Amazon Echo (and other Alexa-enabled devices), and SmartThings. It’s available for $135 on Lowe’s.
Worrying about fires can be a thing of the past, thanks to these five connected smart home fire prevention devices. You can use your smartphone to easily monitor and receive alerts before disaster occurs, no matter where you are. Whether you own, rent with Airbnb, or lease property, these devices can help you relax, knowing they’re keeping your family and investments safe.
— — — — —
Victor Jablokov is the CEO of Wallflower Labs, a technology company based in Boston, MA that is developing products to reduce home fires caused by cooking. Learn more at wallflower.com.
