Oh, I thought you had hardwired, interconnected detectors.
I'm still interested in how the First Alert - type hardwired, interconnected alarms, with battery backup, behave in a power outage. Do they all go off on battery power alone if one senses smoke, eg, they are still interconnected, or does just the one sensing smoke goes off.
(PS: Not Nest)
I have used hardwired detectors with wired interconnect in the past, but power outages where I live are an almost-never event, so canât claim to know for sure how the rest wouldâve reacted if one detected smoke during an outage.
My current house is pretty old and doesnât have any wired detectors, so mine are all battery powered.
I took a look at the installation instructions for one of the current models of first alert hardwired detectors.
It actually was a bit vague, because it said the wired interconnect for AC/DC powered detectors will continue working during a power outage. The wired interconnect for AC-only detectors will not.
But did they mean a DC-line powered detector? Or does the battery backup count as âDC powerâ? 
Probably an easy enough question for first alert customer support to answer, I would think.
I think AC/DC refers to the bridge detector that interfaces between their wireless interconnected detectors and a hardwired system. I have one of these when I had the idea to put a detector in the garage. Range was weak, so I had to put several wireless detectors in between. Plus, talk about spiders in the garage, lol. A heat detector would be best I guess, or in my opinion, in this product line, an ionization, but it's not offered.
It also goes to my point of how great it would be to easily track down the false alarms. Of course, it'd be nice not to get any false alarms. But, the more devices you have, the nicer the ability to track it down would be.
Just yesterday, our phones weren't working. We have a crap load of wired phones. It took a while just to figure out what was the culprit. It was an alarm-related jack. The more devices, the harder to track down.
I put in one detector that I put in downstairs, by the kitchen, when I installed the security system years ago. It's never gone off. Who knows if it works, lol. Maybe I'll actually try to test it this week, but the monitoring people have to get involved. It does seem to be built more substantially than the First Alert products, and uses a magnet to reset. I have a magnet on a stick-maybe I tested it once.
I don't get the security monitoring people involved with the hardwired system. Maybe I should. I'll definitely have to clean those puppies more regularly then, lol. I plan on installing the BRK relay later today to tie into Hubitat, but I don't think I'd also be able to tie into the security panel as well-maybe though, since the Ecolink contact sensor uses dry contacts as well as the panel. So, in addition to turning on lights, locking out leak detection rules, the security monitoring people could be called.
Next thing you know when we're out of town, the fire department will be breaking down my new driveway gate and smashing the front door in on a spider alarm. I laugh, but...
I have Envisalink. Maybe that could be used to send the alarm to the monitoring people. Then, if the alarm was transitory, as in a spider walking across the sensor, a rule could be made to only call if the alarm lasted a minute, or whatever.
I hear what you guys say about Nest. It sounds great, but replacing everything in the house would cost $, plus I hate throwing any money Google's way, if I can avoid it.
Sorry for the rambling.
I personally have the First Alert Zwave Plus version of the ZCombo.
I also have an interconnected, hard wired unit, with the ecolink firefighter nearby.
However, they must be replaced every 7(?) years (approximately).
Can I ask for someone who has Google Nest with the Hubitat integration to chime in for an answer to this question:
Does the integration to Hubitat work without internet access? Or does it work strictly local?
the nest integration doesn't work with the protects. To bring them in you either need HA (which uses cloud access) or ecolink firefighters
I just looked at a manual
You are correct. AC means AC only and AC/DC means battery backup.
So looking at the quote you made earlier, it does look like they transmit signals to other AC/DC detectors.
Go figure, now I'm in smoke/co detector shopping mode.
Looked at the CO detector. It was manufactured in Feb, 2016, so 7+ years old.
Then I looked at a smoke: 2010. So, 13 years.
First Alert seems somewhat non-committal about the lifespan of CO, but says 7-10 years.
It also says that the life span is from when the unit is first energized, which I found interesting.
Smokes they're recommending 10 years, so I guess I'm due for that too.
Thing is, First Alert doesn't seem to manufacture any hardwired detectors, only ones that plug in or combo, CO/Smoke detectors.
When we moved into our place, it had a smoke detector in each bedroom, kitchen and basement. I piggybacked a photo detector in each area and 3 CO detectors, one on each level.
Although an early experience with a BRK Photo/Ion soured me, they were a brand new product at the time. My current thinking is to replace each cluster with one First Alert CO/Ion/Photo combo unit, and put blank covers over the unused junction boxes.
Won't be cheap. I figure 7 units.
Perhaps a ZCombo for the garage to experiment with. I'd need a smart siren then, I guess.
edit: alas, there's no such thing as a FA co/ion/photo detector, far as I can tell.
Not easy on the wallet for sure (it has its own WiFi connection and works with android/apple homekit), but this one does photoelectric/ionization and CO, wired and wireless interconnect, plus has 10-yr sealed backup battery.
Interesting, but prefer to stay local.
My current thinking is one Photo/Ion combo to replace each ceiling cluster, and plug-in CO units on each level, although they wouldn't be interconnected, they are loud. This is First Alert land, maybe there are other options.
Thereâs a third way Iâm aware of. If you have Homebridge and a HomeKit hub, then you can use the Homebridge-Nest plugin to create HomeKit automations with Hubitat virtual switches to trigger lights, unlock doors, turn off central HVAC units, etc.
This does require internet access, just as the HA integration does. However all the critical functions of the Nest detectors (including interconnection) do not require internet. Additionally, if you have a Nest thermostat with Nest thread support (I think there are some low cost models that donât have Nest thread), then it will shut off your HVAC during an emergency event, with no need for internet connection.
@velvetfoot Yes, investment in Nest is expensive (I have 8 so Iâm not unaware of how hard this hits oneâs wallet). However, if false alarms are a common occurrence, they are worth the money for that alone. These are solid detectors. You will be impressed from the install step forward. I can predict that if you have conditions that cause false alarms, and detector failures, you will continue to have them with First Alert. I have owned several types of detectors from them and they always gave false alarms and all of them failed long before their life expectancy. You can get replacements from First Alert support, but after a while they will begin to question you and stop sending you detectors until you send the old one back. This sucks, because it's a garbage product line and they know it.
Kidde is better, but still gives false alarms and their customer support was worse than First Alert when a unit goes bad. My oldest Nest detector (the first I bought to see if it was as good as everyone said) turned 8 years old on July 14th. That's another cool thing about Nest, is you can see their recommended replace date for each unit from the app. They will tell you when it needs replacing and when it needs attention (like new batteries, etc.)
For me, I have always planned to keep using mine beyond the expiration date, as long as it allows me. There's no technical reason that I cannot keep using it, as long as it still passes all the self tests, and works when I test it myself. The 10 year replacement period makes sense for cheap detectors, but the Nest detectors are not in the same class as those. If the app does force me to replace them on their 10 year activation anniversary, I'll be annoyed but will still replace them with a new Nest. They are worth the cost to never have a single false alarm.
I totally get not wanting to give Alphabet (Google's parent company) money. They have a terrible track record of killing products that are not profitable enough for them. But, since this is a safety product, I'm guessing that wouldn't be quite so easy for them to do. I would also assume an EOL announcement from them would be 10 years in the future due to the nature of the product.
I'm looking at the HA Integration for Nest Protects. It looks like it directs you to the Google Integration that does not appear to support the Protects. Here is a link to the devices that are compatible: Supported Devices  | Device Access  | Google for Developers
Am I missing something?
EDIT: I gave it a Google and found there is another Integration that is installed from HACS. I keep forgetting about that option.
Well I bought a 6-pack of BRK/First Alert Ion/CO combos, below.
I figure that'll cover me.
My thinking is that photo electric has been somewhat of a pain.
Plus, you would think that some CO would be generated in a slow burning fire that the PE's ostensibly excel at. That's just a theory on my part.
I'll put that BRK relay in one of the empty round boxes.
From what I understand Nest Protects will cease to function and youâll be forced to replace them. Luckily for me the 5 or 6 Iâll have will have been commissioned a few years apart so the hit wonât be as bad when replacing if I had to replace all at once.
It sounds terrible that you have to replace them, but the batteries should last 10 years, and you are recommended to replace the detector every 10 years anyway.
Quite happy with this one on C8. Zigbee too
They don't cease to function. I had 2 of them over a year and a half past their expiration date at my last house.
Interesting. A buddy of mine said his stopped working. I know he had gen 1s so maybe his were just faulty. Thanks for the info.
Good news. Thanks for confirming.
I haven't had the AC version long enough to know if the backup batteries will last 10 years. But just to be clear, in both versions of Nest detectors the batteries are AA energizer lithium and easily user replaceable. There are half the number of AA lithium batteries (3) required in the AC version. In the battery only version, the longest I got was 5 years with Path Light set to low. Probably could be longer if you disable Path Light, which you might want to do in a bedroom. Personally, I consider this is a fair trade-off for the features and connectivity.
That's the expiration date but when did you activate the detector? The countdown starts on the activation date.
Download the Hubitat app
