Nest is a company that set out to identify devices around the home that could benefit from creative thinking and smart home technology. Their initial focus, the Nest Thermostat, introduced stylish, intelligent and eco-friendly innovation to a space that until then often still relied on technology that existed back in the 1940’s. Nest also has a line of security cameras that seek to provide a better, more user-friendly experience for spying on your dog while at work, or watching helplessly as that package thief steals your latest treasure from Amazon. In this review, we evaluate the Nest Protect, a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector that doesn’t just make your life easier – it can save it too. Read More
smoke alarm
Learn From Past Stupidity: The Kidde Carbon Monoxide & Smoke Detecting Talking Alarm
Two quick stories for you about why the Kidde carbon monoxide smoke detector with talking alarm is worthwhile:
Story 1: Ever realize that not all smoke alarms have a little button you can press to shut them off during a false alarm? I always presumed this was a regular feature until recently. Clawing desperately at the smoke detector as the smell of burning bacon filled the air (some may recall another bacon tragedy I’ve mentioned on HomeFixated sadly not involving a Generac Residential Generator), I did everything I could to get the dumb thing to stop squawking. I nearly tore my nails off trying to unhinge the cap from the base to disconnect / rip the wiring out. It wasn’t a rage-filled need to simply make the noise stop that inspired me tear at my alarm – it was the fact that I lived in a condo. You see, in a condo, when one fire alarm goes off in a unit for a period of time, the main system goes off. Main system = building-wide evacuation and the immediate dispatch of firemen … hot firemen (is there any other kind?). They’re the exact kind of man that I did not want walking into my messy home to see messy sweat pant-wearing me fixing a messy entrée of bacon to eat alone on a Saturday night. And no, I didn’t stop the alarm in time, so that exact scenario I described? Happened. Ugh.
Read More