WHAT’S the difference between a smart smoke alarm and a traditional one? For one, most tell you if there’s a fire in your home even if you’re miles away.
For those away from home a lot or constantly plagued by the niggling feeling they may have left the oven on, smart smoke alarms offer complete peace of mind.
However, a lot of the more advanced ones aren’t available in the UK yet. These work through an app that connects the alarm wirelessly to your smartphone. In most instances, should the alarm go off, it will send your phone an alert, with the relevant information – is it smoke or carbon monoxide? Which room is it? How severe is the problem?
The alerts can be in the form of a siren, or in better models, fitted with voice instructions, or through flashing lights.
The app will also let you know when it’s time to change batteries, which will come as a relief to anyone who simply didn’t realise their smoke alarm had stopped working before they suddenly needed it.
Some of the low-fi options wirelessly connect with other smoke alarms in your house or outside, which can be helpful with basement, attic and garden spaces. We’ve cut through the haze of smart smoke alarms out there to pick out the best ones for your home.
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With the limited range in the UK, the Nest Protect alarm is by far the best on the market. Crucially, the alarm detects both smoke and carbon monoxide and will send alerts to your phone in case you’re not home. It’ll also alert you if the battery is low or the sensor has failed.
The alerts won’t just tell you what’s wrong, but where the problem is in the house. If it’s a false alarm, you can turn it off via the app too. The models come either connected to the mains or require six long-life AA batteries.
For a cheaper option for your smoke alarms, Smartwares Smarthome offers less features but will still protect your home. The smoke detector will sound its own signal when triggered and also send an alert to your smartphone. You can add multiple contact numbers to be notified, which is great if you’re out of the country.
The alarm itself is controlled via your smartphone. However, in order for smartphone compatibility to work, you need to buy the gateway link separately. This does allow you to connect all Smartwares Smarthome smart products to this link.
Much like many of the smart smoke detectors, Netatmo’s NSA-UK Smart Smoke Alarm sends real-time alerts to your smartphone via a dedicated app when smoke is detected. It’s easy to install and completely wireless.
The benefit of this one is the long battery life, as its battery is purported to last the ten years. It also monitors its battery, smoke sensor and WiFi connection, and will send an alert if anything is wrong.
While not as effective as a smart alarm, these lo-fi alarms come with a bonus feature that might interest people who don’t want to invest lots of money: wireless compatibility.
Ideal for people with big homes, basements or who work in their garage – as well as work spaces – by connecting to other alarms, if one goes off, they all go off.
We’ve designed Sun Selects to help you to find the best products that won’t break the bank.
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This article and any featured products have been independently chosen by The Sun journalists. All recommendations within the article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click a link and buy a product we may earn revenue: this helps to support The Sun, and in no way affects our recommendations.
