Smart Smoke Alarm
In our continuing coverage of the evolution of the smart home, First Alert has just come out with some smoke alarms which communicate with each other and tell you where the fire is. It seems like a great step in the right direction, but its still missing a few features I’d like to see:
1. Does not mesh with existing wireless internet. Lots of us have wireless connections in our houses, why can’t we just add these guys to the network?
2. Will not tell me if my house is on fire when I’m away. Conventional smoke alarms are very loud, and I’ll probably hear them if I’m anywhere inside my house. What would be REALLY useful is if they would call / text / email me when my house is on fire so I could send over a neighbor to grab a few valuables / use an extinguisher.
3. Does not mesh with other home automation products (as far as I can tell). Granted, there’s no one single standard yet for connecting electronic household gadgets together, but it does not make sense long term to have a different wireless system for rain gauges, fire alarms, and lights. Hopefully, this will be sorted out soon.
At any rate, its another example of a dumb device getting smarter. Lets hope it keeps on learning.
http://www.gizmag.com/onelink-wireless-talking-networked-smoke-alarm/8 900/
May 21st, 2008 at 10:50 pm
1.As far as “does not mesh with existing wireless network,” it’s likely just running on an RF system, which is much cheaper to produce and run (think electric bills) than 802.11-type networks.
2. Do you really think your neighbor’s going to respond well to the call “my house is on fire. Can you grab a photo album and my daughter’s favorite stuffed animal” kind of phone call?
3. Almost all home automation systems are following the newest standard these days, which ensures inoperability.
August 18th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I’m looking for the best Smoke Alarm now, good points~
November 2nd, 2010 at 4:51 am
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