We wanted to be able to replace all of our smoke and co detector with the one that can pair into HE.
Right now, we have just the standard smoke detector that run off of 9 volt battery which is pretty old.
I looked at some of the "zwave"or "zigbee" detector to get an idea price range on it which seem to run about 40-50 dollar a detector. We are hoping to find one in the 20 dollar range per detector.
While searching, I discovered about a sensor that detects when one of those smoke / co detector is going off and it can tell what trigging it if it smoke or co. I learn it have to be placed 6 inches away from the detector so that mean still would require one for each detector unless it an interconnect detector where if one goes off then all will go off.
I thought maybe a interconnect detector would be cheaper than a zwave or zigbee detector and to my surprising it either almost the same price or even more than what zwave or zigbee cost because it come with niffy apps or cloud hooked up etc which we don't need.
Anyone know a simple interconnect detector that only communicate with each other in the 15-20 dollar price range?
I found one that communicate each other with it own internal radio which trigger other detectors in the area that have the same settings on the dip switch but seem to be hard to find or discontinued.
Our state require one in each bedroom, hallway, kitchen, stairway and mechanical room (water heater, furnace) We got ugh ...... six bedroom, two hallways, a kitchen, a stairway and mechanical room.
You’re referring to the ecolink firefighter device, and yes it should work fine for the use case you described.
I would suggest taking a look at the website of First Alert, Kidde or your brand of choice.
Look for the standard wired detectors, they should all have interconnect wires (check the manual if you’re not sure, usually available on the website). Ignore the ones with wireless interconnect.
We have first alert battery powered detectors. What's nice about them is that they will all sound if one is tripped. Code on newer homes is a wired system, but ours was built in 94' so we don't get to enjoy that luxury. I can attest that they are pretty responsive.
I have Kidde wired interconnected detectors and use their relays hooked up to my alarm panel and CO to a Zwave contact sensor. First Alert and Kidde both offer the relays. You can read about this on the ST community:
In my local jurisdiction this is only required for new construction so for existing construction it goes back to code requirements at time the House was built. But I did personally run wires and install detectors in all my bedrooms anyway.
IF you can find then try a Halo. They're out of business but devices pop up on ebay or letgo, etc.. It's zigbee and has been running for 6 months without issue.
Some memebrs here may have some they're looking to sell ?
Purchase first alert zsmoke (smoke only) and/or zcombo (smoke and CO) detectors. These are battery powered detectors that also have a z-wave radio so they can pair directly to hubitat. They have no local interconnect feature.
Check the websites of kidde, first alert or other brands to identify their battery-operated devices with wireless interconnect, go with the one that’s closest to your desired price point. Add one ecolink firefighter device so you can integrate with hubitat.
In either case, see if you can buy in bulk to bring the cost per unit down.
Check out the ones suggested by @april.brandt then add one of those Ecolink Firefighter devices near one of the smoke detectors. The system that April suggested will sound all the smoke detectors if one detects anything. The single Ecolink detector can trigger whatever you need to within HE.
@april.brandt Which First Alert model do you have that is interconnected and connects to HE? I have the ZCOMBO Z-wave Smoke and CO which are not interconnected but do wish they were. I would like to add a couple that are interconnected and connects to HE.
I have the same. And you can interconnect them in HSM. You just need to turn on the switch to do that. And TRUST ME. It works. My little review was funny, but it was also a message to think about how your stuff reacts when you're jolted awake at midnight. I can attest that they all sounded.
Hmm, I don’t think that’s the function of that toggle switch in HSM. When toggled on, HSM will monitor all your smoke/CO detectors for alerts. When toggled off, you can individually select/unselect each smoke/CO detector.
We regularly accidentally test our ZCOMBO devices or at least the kitchen one. The other ones don't go off. I wouldn't mind adding something that was interconnected though.
hmm makes me want to set them off now, but my pupdogs don't recover from it very well and will spend the entire night shaking and cowering all the while dancing around our feet.
The ZCOMBOs are battery powered Zwave devices and can't be triggered remotely. There are battery powered interconnected devices where if one were set off they all sound but most are not smart or able to be joined to HE. I think if I were to start over, I would have gone for a hardwired interconnected system and added a Zigbee or Z-Wave module to the alarm panel connector.
