Review on Google Nest Protect: Reliable Wired Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector - Ensuring Safety with Ease by Shima Hennigan

I've been watching Nest Protect since it launched about two years ago. Like most people, I hate my smoke alarms. Random chirping when battery is low, checking ear piercing function. climb the stairs at least twice a year to change the batteries, whether they need it or not. you have the idea My smoke alarms were approaching the 10 year mark, which is the "end of life" for smoke alarms, and I knew I had to replace them all. Luckily I refrained from buying the 1st gen Nest Protect. I have learned to be careful with such things. After seeing some of the negative reviews about occasional alarm issues, I deliberately put off purchasing until a 2nd generation product came out. After releasing the new Protect 2 and getting almost consistently positive reviews, I took the plunge and heeded the 4 year old first warning. The CO combination will turn off with 3 beeps every minute at 3:00 AM. Good times. My home, like many new houses, has an insane amount of detectors. During construction of the house, at least one sensor was required on each level of the house, one OUTDOOR sensor in the hallway of each bedroom, and one sensor in each bedroom. For my house, that's eight detectors (4 bedrooms upstairs, 2 in the hallway upstairs, 1 downstairs, 1 in the basement). A few years ago it also became the norm that all carbon monoxide detectors should be. The cost of Nest is a bit crazy. I reasoned that they are rated for 10 years (versus 7 years for competitors) and additional "smart" features are worth the extra cost. In particular, the lack of things like a low battery alarm, random error tones, etc. cost me almost a 100% premium over cheaper metal detectors. Another big benefit we saw with the Protect was being able to get a notification when we're out of town or away from home. I'm also cautiously optimistic that additional features can be added to existing hardware later. as Nest already has experience with other products (the Nest thermostat added an air wave which is a fantastic feature). The quality of these devices is impressive. It's hard to believe that there's a smoke detector in the box when you pick it up, it's so heavy. The device itself has a very nice body, nice lighting and a great big button that can be used for self-testing as well as turning off false alarms (you can also turn off alarms from your phone). There's also a nice, very sturdy mounting plate with mounting holes for probably every international junction box you can think of, plus a couple of drywall screws if you're installing it in bare drywall and a couple of extra wire nuts if you need them. The devices are supplied with batteries. preinstalled. To my knowledge, these batteries last at least a year or two, after which Nest will warn you to replace them. and he won't do it at 4am! DO NOT remove the battery activation tab until you are ready to program Nest Protects! Guards are programmed BEFORE you install them on the ceiling. This is probably a common source of confusion for homeowners as there are many little warning tabs/documents trying to warn you about physical installation before activation! So I installed my 8 blocks in a relatively short time (only 90 minutes). ) with some tips that might help you. Step 1: Unpack ALL your Protects boxes. Label each box with a pen to indicate which room/location it is in. Fold them all to the left. Sit in a nice, clean place (a large table works well). Your unprogrammed protections are on the left, your work station and mobile device are in the middle, and the already programmed protections are on the right. Make sure you know the name and password of your Wi-Fi network and that your mobile phone is well charged (you will do this for a while). Step 2: Launch the Nest app, create an account if needed (I already had one for my thermostat). Step 3. Select "Add Product" and then "Add Security". Step 4. Using the mobile application (you must have a smartphone manufactured within the last 3-4 years or use a PC and enter the codes) scan the QR code on the back of the protector. Do not pull the tab to turn on the protection until prompted! After scanning the QR code, turning on security, setting the language to English, the app will guide you through the next steps, including entering the WiFi password, setting the location for the device, etc. All of this takes at least a minute a few minutes. Minutes if it sits there for 90 seconds don't give up it's still going and should be fine. The application will want to test this first protection itself. It's LOUD so you can go outside while it counts down from 10 to start the self-test. The app will let you know when setup is complete and the Nest Protect will flash to let you know it's been programmed. If it's a wired version, you'll also be warned that it's battery powered. For device protection, it is important to select "Add more protection" as it will save you valuable time. Step 7. You will be prompted to scan the QR code of the next protector and then press the button on the 1st protector to activate it. Do not pull the tab to activate the second protection until the app is connected or connected to the first device. You can cheat a little, drag to the tab and select English about 30 seconds before the app says so, and the installation will continue with no problem. Doing a lot of defenses will save you a little time. Defenders don't need WiFi to communicate with each other, so this works. They use their own wireless network to communicate with each other, and the first one you set up can share settings and account information with others. to the next device. Repeat steps 6-7 for each additional protection until all are programmed. When you're done with all the programming, proceed with the physical activation and don't add any more protections from the app. Important! Leave the plastic dust cover on your Protects until you physically plug them in! This will prevent dust/dirt from the ceiling from getting into the detector and possibly causing problems while you are fiddling with the ceiling wiring. Step 9. Turn off the AC switch on your wired detectors (if your house is newer, they probably all have the same switch). Remove the old protection and mounting plate and disconnect the wiring harness. Connect the red/signal wire, Protect doesn't need it. Connect the white/black wire to the Nest wiring harness. Install a new mounting plate. It's a little tricky because there are no labels on the panel and it's not clear which holes match US electrical outlets (Pro tip, these are the second most common mounting holes on the outside of the panel. Use opposite corners of the mounting holes for a correct fit). Put all the cables back into the box except for the new connector. Step 10 Connect the newly installed plug to the jack for that location. Press the button once to ensure the detector you are installing is correct for the site (Have you labeled your boxes correctly?) Step 11 Align the plastic ring on the mounting plate with the round tab on the protective cover. Give it a little nudge as it spins and it locks into place. You are only allowed to rotate the outlet 90 degrees, so you won't be able to orient the outlet "label" on the safety device button exactly the way you want. It would be nice if Nest allowed this part to spin freely so the OCD guys (me) could orient it the way they want with less effort. on.Step 13. Get a beer. The Protect 2 recognizes the power connection after one to two minutes. You'll notice that the little green light comes on when AC power is applied to it for a minute or two. Step 14. Press the test button on one of the Protect devices and press it again to start the self-test. This is the interesting part as all the detectors are now tested one at a time and you don't have to run around with a broom to test each one individually. Step 15 You should now also see that the protection on your mobile app is green. my detailed installation report. If this seems overly complicated (it isn't, assuming you can twist a screwdriver, stand up a ladder, and understand electrical basics), you can hire a professional. Nest provides information on how to contact him on a flyer in the box. So why 4 stars? A few little things. First, these detectors cost twice as much as other decent detectors. I personally think $79 would be a more reasonable price for them. Of course, for places where carbon monoxide alarms aren't/can't be required, Nest should offer a smoke-only alarm at a slightly cheaper price. There are other small things that I think could be improved. The square design is a pain in the neck to align properly so it doesn't look crooked on the ceiling. while it won't bother everyone, it will annoy us enough to keep bringing it up. Nest does not currently offer a way to customize security settings on individual devices. Would you like the sound test to sound in all rooms except the one where the child sleeps? Too bad. Would you like to personalize bedroom #1 and bedroom #2 in the software so you know which one has a problem? Difficult. Nest should step in, as they surely know many homes need a lot of these things, and they don't exactly come cheap. My final reason for deducting a star for now is that many Nest Protect Gen 1 owners have been in trouble. Nest doesn't offer them the Protect 2 at a discount, and the Protect 1 is prone to false alarms and crashes. While I was confident enough in the Protect 2's design to shell out a whopping $794 for eight of them, Nest left a lot of people with an unpleasant aftertaste by not solving the problems of the 1st gen. Should similar problems arise with Protect 2 in a few years, I don't expect much of a real solution from Nest either. Despite being acquired by Google, Nest is new in this space. They should really help their customers and not respond to negative comments about Protect 1 with the words "contact support". Overall I think this is a great product and worth the price for what it is. Definitely, although it has many advantages over traditional smoke/carbon monoxide alarms, and if you feel those advantages outweigh the added cost, I definitely recommend it.