Be the Smokey the Bear of your household with Nest Protect

A study by The National Fire Protection Agency found that of “smoke alarms that failed to activate during home fires, 73% of them had dead, missing, or disconnected batteries.” The reasoning behind failed smoke detection was that most homeowners disabled their alarms because they were annoyed with numerous pesky false-alarms. With the Nest Protect, you won’t be a part of the aforementioned statistc; this smoke detector is one you’ll actually enjoy having on your ceiling.

Consumer electronics guru, Tony Fadell, knew that smoke detector technology was in dire need of an upgrade. The former Senior Vice President for Apple, and “father of the iPhone,” realized that smoke detectors needed to adapt in false alarm fire situations. In 2010, Fadell created Nest Labs, where he specializes in the redesigning everyday electronic products that are usually overlooked for improvements. His first task tackled the standard thermostat, making it more modern and user-friendly. The reinvention of the smoke detector is Nest Labs’ latest innovation, creating the cool Protect smoke detector that won't get on your nerves.

Nest’s Protect smoke detector caters to the Apple-loving generation, enabling an interactive experience to occur between the Protect its owner. It is fully equipped with ultrasonic sensors and gesture based commands. There is no longer a need for people to remove the smoke detector from the wall to silence it during false alarms! When the sensors detect a false fire alarm, the user simply waves his/her hand three times by the device to shut off the noise.

The detector has a colored ring in its sensor, whose colors signal levels of urgency: red signifies smoke or a CO emergency, yellow is a warning color, and green means that all is well. When nighttime hits, Nest’s smoke detector also doubles as nightlight. The light-up motion sensors shine brighter when someone is walking below, and automatically dim when there is no motion detected.

There is constant communication between the detector and the user. It tells you exactly what is going on when set off, for example, “there’s carbon monoxide in the living room.”  The detector will announce, rather than releasing an obnoxious alarm. Fadell claims that the machine keeps you informed of how all its sensors are working. It’ll check-up on its own heat, activity, light, CO, and smoke sensors, to provide accurate safety and information. 

Nest’s Protect products are wi-fi enabled, and can be synced with smartphones to keep users informed on the safety of their house even when on the go. If an actual fire or carbon monoxide explosion occurs, Protect will send an alert to the smartphone with options to call emergency services.

 What’s really cool about the Nest thermostat and the Protect smoke detector is that they communicate with each other to ensure household safety. So, if unsafe conditions are detected, the thermostat will automatically shut down the boiler or furnace in an attempt to halt the common source of carbon monoxide related issues. The detector is rechargeable, and it is guaranteed that a single charge will last for many years, according to Mr. Fadell — a wonderfully lasting investment.