Nest Unveils Protect, a Ridiculously Smart Smoke Detector
The latest and greatest on the connected home scene? Nest Protect, a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector that aims to make your home safer, more efficient, and more communicative with you.
Almost two years ago now, we swooned over Nest, the first learning thermostat designed to make your home perfectly temperate, no matter what time of year. Nest’s latest foray into house essentials is a heroic one, as I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of getting so annoyed with our smoke alarms chirping that we simply take the batteries out and forget they even existed.
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Of course, the thing we love about this innovation is the connectedness with your smartphone. You can know what is happening in your house at all times, no matter where you are. As soon as an alarm goes off, you’ll get a message from Nest Protect on your smartphone alerting you.
Alarm going off when you’re cooking? Simply wave your hand under the Nest Protect and the alert is dismissed.
Instead of alarming you with terrible beeping noises and sirens, a clear voice accompanies an alarm sound when something is going wrong. It speaks to you in a human voice, similar to Siri, and tells you what the problem is and where it is happening. If you have more than one Nest Protect in your home, all devices can speak at the same time, whether or not your wi-fi is connected.
And what about that chirp? How will you know your batteries are low? As soon as batteries are getting to the danger zone, you’ll get an alert on your phone, giving you plenty of time to replace them. Worried about such an alert happening at night? When you go to bed, Nest emits a quick green glow when the lights go out to let you know that the batteries and sensors are working. How clever is that?
Part of the Nest Protect system, Pathlight turns your Nest into a nightlight system that lights your way through your house. It automatically sense your presence and illuminates your path. If you’re worried about waking people up and don’t need the light, simply toggle it off in the app.
And it works with your Nest Thermostat! If Nest Protect’s carbon monoxide alarm goes off, your thermostat automatically turns off your gas furnace, in case this could be the source of a carbon monoxide leak. So.. smart!
At only $129 a pop, Nest Protect is a darn affordable device for what it promises to do.
What do you think of Nest Protect? Will pre-order one (or two or three!) for your home? Are the batteries still in your smoke detector? Talk to us in the comments below.
