Nest Protect - Smoke & Carbon Monoxide alarm

by DannyUK

Everyone knows smoke alarms are important, but equally as important are carbon monoxide detectors. Fortunately Nest Protect is both in one!

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Gas Safety Week came and went a few weeks back - a national safety campaign, that sees the charity Gas Safe Register joining forces with engineers, organisations and stakeholders to promote gas safety.

Research from smart gadget company Nest has shown that in the UK, carbon monoxide poisoning accounts for approximately 50 fatalities and 4,000 medical visits per year. A worrying statistic that reflects the need for carbon monoxide detectors in the home.

Safety is knowing. The Nest Protect smoke & carbon monoxide alarm does much more than just sound a shrill alarm when there’s danger in your home. Nest themselves announce on their website:

Nest Protect speaks to you, telling you where the danger is and what the problem is. And before it sounds a piercing alarm, Nest Protect gives you a friendly Heads-Up warning telling you what and where the danger is. It also connects to your mobile devices and even messages you if the batteries run low, avoiding that all-too-familiar midnight low-battery chirp. Nest also has a Pathlight that glows white at night to light your way in the dark as you pass below it.

The Nest Protect box is supplied with the Nest Protect itself, a backplate, screws and the user guide.

You need to connect your Nest to your iPhone to get it started, and thanks to the easy to follow instructions this only took five minutes or so. I would imagine that even for the technically challenged, it would be remarkably simple to set up.

The Smartphone app

So why should you choose Nest Protect over other alarms? Simply put, it gives you information, not just alarms. It tells you what the problem is and where it is. And in case you’re away from home, it sends a message to your phone. Because a beep simply isn’t enough.

If you have more than one Nest Protect, you can connect them to each other and speak up at the same time – even if Wi-Fi is down. Not only does Nest Protect sound an alarm, it also speaks to you with a human voice.

It tells you if there’s smoke or carbon monoxide, which room it’s in, and if you’re in immediate danger. So you can quickly figure out the best way to exit your home and avoid running into a fire on the way out.

According to the same study, children can sleep through a beeping alarm. Nest Protect uses a human voice to help kids wake up in an emergency. As a dad of four, this is something that obviously appealed to me. Add in the fact that I am an extremely heavy sleeper myself, then it’s another reason I like it so much.

The Nest Protect Smoke & Carbon Monoxide detector.

As a gadget fan, I also like the fact that Nest Protect will send a message to my phone if there’s a problem. I can also log in at any time to check the status of my Nest Protect.

It also has what the manufacturers call a “Nightly Promise”, which is a quick green glow when the lights go out that means the batteries and sensors are working. It’s an easy at-a-glance way to check that everything is still working.

The “Nightly promise”

If there is an issue, for example if the batteries need replacing, the light ring will glow yellow. Simply press the Nest button and it will tell you what’s wrong.

The Nest Protect retails at £89 and is available via HaveYouSeen, Amazon, Nest themselves and all other good stockists. Possibly also from some bad ones.

It’s a fantastic product, is easy to use and syncs nicely with the iPhone.  I’d never given much thought to what a smoke or carbon monoxide detector can do before, but I’d definitely recommend this.  It’s pricey, but it offers so much for that price that if you have the money spare, it’s well worth shelling out for.

The official website with more info is here.

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I was given the Nest Protect for free in exchange for an honest review.  Any opinion expressed here is my own.