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Smoke Alarms - Are the nest ones worth it?

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by dee, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. dee

    dee Well-Known Member Acorn Supporter

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    Hi All. Been decorating and about time to get new smoke alarms. Are the nest ones worth the money or just stick with a 20 quid usual ?

    Ta
     
  2. Domain Forum

    Acorn Domains Elite Member

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    IWA Meetup
     
  3. Sound United Kingdom

    Sound Well-Known Member

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    I have two nest smoke alarms and they work very well sometimes too well if you place them anywhere near your kitchen and burn the toast.

    Only downside is with the battery ones I have only lasting four or five months depending on how much toast I have burnt then need six new AA battery's
     
  4. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    I have a few of the Nest mains powered units. Work well, test themselves each week and they are brilliant at telling me when I've burnt the tea. They also check for carbon monoxide which is very handy, because I have the Nest thermostat too, and from what I believe, if the alarms detect CM, it will tell the boiler to shut down its operation.
     
  5. armistice

    armistice Active Member

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    Check if your local fire brigade offers safety visits (if you've not already had one). They advise on fire safety, where the detectors should be placed and often supply them free (Not Nest ones of course ).
    https://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/
     
  6. DomainAngel

    DomainAngel Well-Known Member

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    you should get one that sends an alarm to mobile devices or secondary alarms, as current smoke detectors alarms although loud to adults are of a frequency that rarely wake small children.

    Saw on watchdog family in garden and house on fire, kids didn't wake up even though filled with smoke alarms sounding.
     
  7. dee

    dee Well-Known Member Acorn Supporter

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    Thanks all. Good info.

    Thats my angle, I have two kids so dont care about the cost its more about them working well. Its a small place so if anything goes off i'd hear it, but like the idea of being texted / dinged on my phone and I think the nest one trigger alarms on network.
     
  8. Ben Thomas

    Ben Thomas Well-Known Member

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    Well, what are the benefits though? The only one I can see is that you could be alerted to a fire while outside if your home. Which granted is handy, but is it really worth the extra cost?
     
  9. Sound United Kingdom

    Sound Well-Known Member

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    I have two kids and the nest alarms work well and and you can test from your mobile and control the alarms
     
  10. dee

    dee Well-Known Member Acorn Supporter

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    Its more the having kids thing..... mine would sleep through anything and they arent even teenagers yet. I want something that will give as many notifications as possible. We're getting to the stage where my daughter is old enough to be on her own for a bit. She may set the toaster going and forget, plug something in somewhere.... who knows. I want to know immediately if something is up.

    This..... thank you.
     
  11. Ben Thomas

    Ben Thomas Well-Known Member

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    It's a fair point, and as someone who is becoming a father in July I can definitely relate.
     
  12. lazarus

    lazarus Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Go nest, you will not look back. Its the rolls royce of smoke alarms. I now have 4 of them.

    I have the nest thermostat too which nicely links in with Alexa.
    Alexa... turn the heating to 21 degrees. Boom

    You can set it to start warming up your house if you are an hour away.

    The cameras are a little too expensive.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
  13. dee

    dee Well-Known Member Acorn Supporter

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    Thanks all. Confirmed what I thought was probably the way forward. Reckon i'll be ordering a couple at least. Wish i'd thought previously..... could have got hardwired mains. Whatevs.
     
  14. Ben Thomas

    Ben Thomas Well-Known Member

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    I'm fond of Ring for CCTV.
     
  15. lazarus

    lazarus Super Moderator Staff Member

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    2 of mine are wired but the other 2 that are battery last for a very long time...
     
  16. lazarus

    lazarus Super Moderator Staff Member

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    I am running synology as my storage which has a fantastic CCTV interface. I have a mix of reolink and older foscams.
    The only downside is you only get 2 free cam licences with the synology. :(

    I like the look of ring for the front door so when I am out I can tell the cold callers to go away or I will release the hounds.
     
  17. dee

    dee Well-Known Member Acorn Supporter

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    Lol... this coud be a thread that goes off on a tangent for miles, but CCTV is something im interested in sorting out for work.

    I'm Assuming synology is NAS for CCTV ? But just works with some cameras ? Foscam are cool as ive sussed out a way of emailing / texting me pictures when triggered by motion detection via the built in cgi stuff , but recording video seems difficult.
     
  18. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    The Nest camera interface is flaky at best!
     
  19. lazarus

    lazarus Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Yes and so much more. Movie Music Files 3rd Party Apps. https://www.synology.com/en-uk/dsm/packages

    Also the movie player app links in with most smart TV's so open app choose film and away it goes. Alternatively the synology movie player can push to chrome cast. Again the GUI is excellent. Can you tell that I am a fan boy yet?

    I have the 4 bay model at work and a 2 bay at home.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020