So you've got a fully decked out smart home, right? Well, why not add some smarts to your smoke detector with these HomeKit-enabled options?
Being able to control your lights while you're away from home is convenient. Being able to unlock your door while your hands are full of groceries is handy. Getting an alert that your smoke detector has detected smoke while you're away from home? That's potentially life saving and is, at the very least, money saving. A smart smoke detector takes an already necessary home appliance and adds a touch more helpfulness to it. Regardless of where you happen to be, you can be alerted about a potential emergency happening in your home — that takes the smart home from impractical to pragmatic.
There aren't many smart smoke detectors that work with Apple HomeKit, but here are the options that are available!
Onelink by First Alert
This $120 HomeKit-enabled sensor from First Alert is actually two products in one. Along with serving as a smoke detector, the OneLink can detect unhealthy levels of carbon monoxide in your home. It's sold in both battery-powered and hardwired configurations and works how you'd expect: It will alert you with an alarm in the event of a smoke or carbon monoxide emergency. Because it's smart, it'll also alert you with notifications. If you're out of your home when an emergency happens, you'll be able to know immediately.
If you choose to replace all your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms with the OneLink, they can wirelessly connect to each other over Bluetooth, automatically sounding in the event of an emergency. What's more, the wired model comes with a built-in battery back-up that will give you 10 years of juice in the event of a power outage.
With HomeKit, you can use the OneLink as part of an automation. Maybe along with the alarm sounding in the event of an emergency, you'd also like all the lights to come on in your house — this HomeKit-enabled sensor can make that happen. You can also use Siri to test or silence the alarm in the event of a false positive. "Hey Siri, shut that OneLink off, I'm burning popcorn over here!"
Elgato Eve Smoke
You'll have to be in the E.U. if you want to get your hands on the €120 Eve Smoke, but it shouldn't be ignored if you do live there. Partnering with Hager, this connected alarm uses a photoelectric smoke sensor and a differential heat sensor to reduce false alarms:
Use only the heat sensor in your kitchen to cook up a storm without tripping the siren. And if you happen to trigger a false alarm, simply silence it from your iPhone.
Eve Smoke automatically tests itself regularly and keeps you updated via the Elgato Eve app. You'll always know that your smoke alarm is ready to sound in the event of an emergency without having to blast away your ear drums to be certain. If you're out of the house when an emergency happens, you'll get a push notification right on your smartphone.
Worried about connection issues? Eve Smoke works autonomously, so a smartphone or network connection isn't necessary. It's also got a built-in 10-year battery, so you've got a decade of certainty. If you purchase multiple units, they'll automatically work together in the event of an emergency. When one sounds, the others will join in.
Just like the OneLink, Eve Smoke's HomeKit integration means it'll work with your other smart home accessories. You can light up a path to your front door when the alarms sound, giving you a clear emergency exit. And, once again, you'll be able to stop those false alarms with a quick command to Siri.
Nest Protect*
*IMPORTANT: Nest Protect (and the whole suite of Nest products) isn't inherently compatible with Apple HomeKit. If you want to use your smoke alarm with Siri and Apple HomeKit but don't fancy yourself a bit of a DIYer, you're better off skipping this one.
The $120 Nest Protect is one of the most well-known smart smoke detectors on the market. It's reliable, it looks nice, and it works. If you've got other Nest products in your home, you can connect them together for convenient alerts and integrations. The Nest Protect will detect both smoke and carbon monoxide emergencies, so you can rest easy knowing you're protected. It also knows the difference between smoke and steam, so you're not going to get a bunch of false alarms in the kitchen.
If you want to use this smoke alarm with your HomeKit setup, you're going to need to do a bit of DIY work. There's a program called Homebridge that lets you connect non-HomeKit-enabled devices to your HomeKit setup. I've written a guide that walks you through the process and another post that suggests a few products to add using Homebridge. Good luck!
- How to connect incompatible accessories to HomeKit using Homebridge
- 5 Great Smart Home Accessories That Work With HomeKit Using Homebridge
Thoughts?
Have you purchased a HomeKit-enabled smoke alarm? Thinking about buying one from this list? Have a non-HomeKit-enabled smart smoke alarm? Share your thoughts, suggestions, and questions in the comments or over on Twitter!
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