smoke and carbon dioxide detectors for HomeKit

Question

SaltSeaShark Author

Level 1

36 points

smoke and carbon dioxide detectors for HomeKit

can the 'Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm' be made to work with HomeKit?

or does Apple or one of its partners make a smoke detector device?

Posted on Feb 17, 2024 9:22 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Pilerman

Level 4

2,064 points

Feb 18, 2024 11:27 AM in response to SaltSeaShark

The Apple HomePod has the ability to listen for the sound of alarms and send you a notification. This is optional and can be turned on or off through your settings within a HomePod.

There are products designed specifically to work with HomeKit. I did a quick search on Bing which returned the same results as the google searches in the previous reply.

I took it a step further and came up with:

(taken from firstalert.com)

Let me know if you decide to use any of their products and how the setup goes. I might just follow your lead 😉

Reply

Answer 2

Pilerman

Level 4

2,064 points

Feb 21, 2024 4:53 PM in response to SaltSeaShark

Holy wow! That is a fantastic spreadsheet!

A few days after replying to your original post, I started poking in the First Alert model numbers that were in the screenshot I provided. I entered those numbers into their own store front and… One by one I discovered that ALL of those models have been discontinued. I was bummed out, they had favorable reviews too!

I headed back to Bing in search for other brands.

I’m in this with you because it’s something that I need to do in my own house. There are two ‘hardwired’ smoke detectors (120 VAC) but neither of them work.

I just figured that I’d end up with non-smart detectors to put in place of those and then I’d have to let the HomePod’s and Siri take it from there.

I won’t consider anything google or amazon, neither of those are welcome to live in my house.

I’ll do some more searching and I’ll let you know what I come up with and what I end up going with here.

Good luck to you!!!

Reply

Answer 3

SaltSeaShark Author

Level 1

36 points

Feb 21, 2024 1:28 PM in response to SaltSeaShark

Thanks both for Google and Bing results respectively. (I had already tried an internet trawl, of course, but maybe forum assumption is that most members don't, or can't?)

I've found the answer to original question is that Nest doesn't work with HomeKit. With hindsight, now seems obvious. Shame, since Nest's design team are ex-Apple engineers and their devices do a far better job than anything else out there IMHO.

As requested, I've shared my research so far but still haven't made a decision.

Trouble is, my insurance company insists on a hard-wired alarm system, which probably means I'll end up with non-smart, 12V, relay closure, devices connected to main alarm system. Downsides are they won't appear on HomeKit, and there's no combo smoke/CO, so I'll need to double up in CO risk zones. Upsides are that they will trigger an alarm on the Eaton iOS app, and they're much cheaper than 'smart' gadgets.

Interestingly, looks like one manufacturer tried making PoE devices but has since folded. I would've thought this'd be a way forward, but perhaps they're just too early for the market. Another likely concern being hackability.

One other observation is that First Alert got highest ranking in survey, yet it seems they're difficult to purchase in Europe. Plus their website is hopeless at product comparison and their support team favours cut&paste generic responses without reading the question. Still, wouldn't rule them out if money were no object. Alas, it is a serious object!

Keen to hear how others get on.

Reply