A Look at Smarter Smoke Detectors

Keeping your family and your home safe is an important responsibility. There are a number of devices that you can buy to help accomplish this, with some of the most common being smoke detectors. There are many options when it comes to choosing a smoke detector, including several “smart” smoke detector models. If you’ve wondered whether one of these smarter smoke detectors is right for you and your home, here’s a closer look at how they work.

Smart Home Protection

Like other “smart” devices, smart smoke detectors are able to connect to the local internet and can be controlled remotely by your phone or a central device hub. This allows you to customize their functionality and unlocks additional features that standard smoke detectors lack. In some cases, software updates can also add features or additional ways to customize the smoke detectors without having to remove or replace them.

Multiple Warning Types

One big advantage of smart smoke detectors is that you can receive warnings in different ways. In addition to the standard alarm noises that people are used to, many smart smoke detectors feature spoken warnings that are available in multiple languages to make sure that your family knows exactly what the danger is when the alarm goes off. Because smart smoke detectors typically connect to an app on your smartphone, you can also receive phone alerts when a smoke detector goes off so that you’ll know what is going on even if you aren’t at home.

Cooking with Smart Smoke Detectors

A lot of people disable the smoke detectors in their kitchen before pan-searing meat or cooking certain other items because of the smoke produced in the process. This can be dangerous, since it’s easy to forget to turn the smoke detector back on, leaving one of the most common areas for a fire to start left unprotected. Many smart smoke detectors feature cooking modes that you can enable from your phone, device hub, or on the detector itself, letting them know to ignore smoke that occurs now, and automatically reenabling protection afterward.

Smoke Detector Connectivity

Because of the way that smart devices interconnect, you can set up most smart smoke detectors to work with other devices in your home to provide even greater protection. One common use of this feature is to set up a routine with smart lights, so that if a smoke detector goes off, the lights are turned on. That ensures that everyone can see to get out of the house, even if it’s in the middle of the night. You may be able to add other devices to these routines as well, doing things like shutting off the HVAC system to avoid spreading smoke and fanning flames.

Are Smart Smoke Detectors Right for You?

There are definite benefits to using smart smoke detectors in your home. If you don’t have Wi-Fi set up or don’t use any additional smart devices, though, you won’t be able to get the full benefits that some smart smoke detector models offer. The cost of the smoke detectors may also play a part in your decision, as most smart smoke detectors cost more than similar non-connected detectors. With that said, if you’ve been considering adding smart devices and home automation to your home and they fit your budget, then smart smoke detectors might be a good starting point to making your home a lot safer and smarter.