Had a little incedent with an old phone burning up and it did not set off the smoke alarm even though it was pretty thick. Figure if I'm replacing them then i should be able to monitor them and get alerts.
Anyone know of a suitable product?
I would suggest you skip finding a zwave or zigbee smoke detector and just leverage the existing ones and get a Zooz Zen55 to integrate it with HE. I personally have Kidde Smoke and CO detectors with 10 year batteries that have worked well for me.
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I use off-the-shelf hardwired smoke detectors independent of any home automation platform. This lets you use the best smoke detectors available (which aren't necessary the ones with Zigbee or Z-wave).
But I use an Ecolink FireFighter (Z-wave plus, but Zigbee also available), which listens for the audible smoke/CO alarm. It's paired to Hubitat, so I can automate/monitor the smoke detectors.
The best of both worlds.
(Even better - I have 6 interconnected smoke detectors, but I only need 1 Ecolink to monitor the whole system)
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I like the First Alert Z-combos, now with Z-wave plus. 3 packs at costco for ~90.00, wait...on sale for 79.99. Plus they take cheap AA batteries(um they were cheap before, well you know) I use rechargeable lithium AA's in them, but considering the cost & lifespan I think I'm losing money.
Plus they're from a major manufacturer that knows smoke/co sensing.
I'm still rocking some Halos and Halo+, Hardwire/Zigbee interconnected, too bad they went belly up. Probably the ridiculous price of their alarms
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My one didnt go off when it should have so it has to be replaced anyway. Oddly enough it also does not have a test button.
I love/loved my Halo detectors (they are hitting end of life and will be replaced with the First Alerts). I think they mis-sold them though, they should have focused on it being a nearly all-in-one sensor package. Yes, they were high for a "smoke/carbon monoxide detector" (although Nest Protect had come out and were higher) but they had a lot more value with the additional temperature, humidity, & pressure sensors PLUS the ability to control the color ring (our main use for them to this day). All packed in a package that nobody pays any attention to so it was easy to have sensors in plain sight. The only thing it could have used (or if someone starts making one now) would be a motion sensor (one of the new presence sensors would be cool).
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"They" say that a combo of ion and photo sensors are best for different types of fires. I've found that spiders tend to set off photo types, but that's just me.
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Nest Protects... Hands down the best.... Then you simply add a single Ecolink firefighter to tie them into hubitat.
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I had a 1st Gen Nest Protect and I have to say I was always a bit disappointed. Mostly because I knew how many sensors were in it, but Google gave us no access to them in an easily integrated form.
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I agree, but they're still good. The ecolink firefighter works very well for us...
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