It should be noted that, while the smoke detector function is likely as useful as any other smoke detector, the carbon monoxide detector is likely useless. This is because carbon monoxide is heavier than air. Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed near the floor, not on the ceiling.
Carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air @97% density!
Carbon dioxide is heavier than air. It is CO2 detectors that should be installed @12-18" above the floor not CO detectors!
And in any case the best place for a smoke detector is definitely not near the floor...
In our end of the valley we get episodic power outages. Absent a $6500 Tesla Powerwall , that leaves a window of vulnerability which I have managed with battery-operated Nests and an UPS for the WiFi set up. It does not appear this device has that option.
I read the listing on Amazon and it has a built-in 10 year backup battery. I think they addressed that pretty well.
Most smoke detectors today have a 10yr lifespan. If they don't, then I wouldn't buy it.
The actual sensor degrades below acceptable levels after ten years, and then the random false alarms start happening, but only during the hours of midnight and six a.m., which is pretty remarkable for even non ‘smart’ devices that don’t have any sort of clock in them. Seriously, though, it’s because of this that a long-term built-in backup battery is actually mandated to not work longer than ten years. The sensor is less reliable, so a twenty-year battery isn’t allowed, because it would motivate owners to keep using the devices beyond the reliability factor of the sensors.
I’d be more interested in the reviewed product if it had a version without Alexa spyware, without the added expense of the music feature (I already have HomePods, which surely sound way better than smoke-alarm Muzak), and a false alarm silencer button on the bottom of the device, where you can actually get to it with a stick or kitchen utensil without climbing on the furniture. My significant other is tolerating my rollout of HomeKit stuff but would probably just go ahead and burn the house down with me in it if told that silencing a cooking-induced alarm would now require opening an app on the phone left out in the car, a conversation with Siri made more difficult by the screaming smoke alarm in the background, or by climbing on the furniture to push a button inexplicably located on the side of the alarm, an action that probably invites hearing damage by putting the user’s head inches away from an alarm blasting at probably 120+ decibels at the source, just to reach up and push that side button.
Oh I know...the apartment I lived in had expired smoke detectors (barely expired after 10yrs) and one night around 2-3am one went off which since they're all wired together per code, meant they all went off and I had no idea why they were going off. I originally though there was a gas leak or something so I called the gas company who confirmed there wasn't a gas leak and then called the Fire Dept for me. After that episode, the landlord was made to change the smoke detectors out. I had to unplug them all and take the battery out to get them to stop. It's very unnerving to know that A, you don't have smoke detectors, and B, when you plug them in they could go off at any time like the boy that cried wolf. Anyways, that's all fixed now with really good smoke/CO detectors throughout the apartment, but it sucked until it was fixed. Of course it didn't go off around 4 or 5pm...no it had to go off at 2-3am.
I just purchased this product. For Apple insider to give this a reasonably good review is a big mistake. It doesn’t support Siri, the speaker is not an accessory in HomeKit, its functionality as a smart speaker is only limited to Amazon. And like many commenters above I don’t want Amazon listening to my house. But I’m OK with Apple. First alert tech-support literally told me it would work with Siri. Which it does not. Regarding turning off Alexa, this is easily done in the software. But the fact that it doesn’t support Siri is a dealbreaker for me, and it’s going back. As of mid January, the support for airplay 2 is not yet implemented, but I’m not interested in the speaker for music, I’m interested in it as a smart assistant in my house using Siri. And it is not that!
Comments
Carbon dioxide is heavier than air. It is CO2 detectors that should be installed @12-18" above the floor not CO detectors!
And in any case the best place for a smoke detector is definitely not near the floor...
I hope you don't install these for a living...:)