I hate Pizza. And cookies. Ok, I don’t really hate them, but every time I make a frozen pizza, our smoke alarm goes off. Don’t get me wrong – our oven is clean and there is no smoke, but our building contractor in their infinite wisdom chose to strategically place the smoke alarm in the flight path of any steam coming from the oven. Our six-year old even has an official chore – when the oven is opened, open and close the pantry door to use as a steam guard.
Then there are the nights when I get home late from work, the kids are in bed and I heat a late dinner. There’s nothing more awesome in your marital relationship than when you’ve 1) Arrived home late from work AND 2) Woke up the kids who come rushing down in their firedrill mode. It was so bad I called the company that made our old smoke detector who explained that the unit we had was, “Contractor grade” and offered to upgrade and a ridiculous price.
That is why I just pre-ordered two Nest Protect units, brought to us by Tony Fadell, the guy who led the creation of multiple iDevices under Steve Jobs. Part Smoke and CO2 sensor, part emergency light and internet-enabled motion and security system, these little units speak in a gentle voice before the alarm goes off and a wave of the hand will avoid DEFCON 1. What’s more, it is Internet enabled and will work alongside our Nest Thermostat which in the past year has paid for itself in energy savings and convenience.
The product is a bit pricey right now (~$129US), but with batteries that last seven years, multi-purpose use and a high wife acceptance factor, I’m sold. It’s also brilliant business sense for Nest as the average three bedroom home will have seven to nine smoke alarms.
My only ask – please make a Nest Automatic Water Sprinkler control. Programming that thing is maddening, and the rain sensor never works right.
Meet the Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm. | Nest.
Update: Nest Protect is now the #1 product on Amazon.com in its category.