I’m currently looking into putting up new smoke & CO detectors. I’m curious if you guys have experience with this. My home had some old smoke detectors (i think they were linked, but im not sure). They went off during the night a few times and then I pulled them from the ceiling. So here I am, in need of some new detectors. It would be great of they would be compatible with the current way of powering, but its not mandatory. I added a photo of the current connector, I hope someone recognizes it.
The great thing about the above POPP Smoke Detectors is that they also have an alarm (or maybe even speakers?) on board which should be able to used through HASS (is my expectation). So I add sensors in my home for anti-burglary and let the smoke detectors beep on detection. That would be a great added value. Also one of my requirements is that these detectors also work independently from the rest of my home assistant (so if the power gets cut, the smoke detectors should still be able to alert us).
Currently the only ways of connecting to my Home Assistant are the following:
WiFi
ZWave
RFXCom (I am working to phase this out)
I’d prefer to use Z-wave for everything, but if there are good alternatives, i’m open to suggestions.
I wonder if any of you have experience with smoke &co detectors and what you guys think is wise to get. And im wondering if any of you tried the POPP one yet!
That plug and wires will just join onto another cable up above. No need to find one with the same plug type.
I love the function and look of the nest protect, the only thing is they can’t be integrated into home assistant at the moment which is a shame.as.it would be nice to turn on lights when the alarm sounds etc, turn of the boiler when co detected etc
I looked at all sorts when we were building an extension recently, as the building inpector insisted we installed interlinked alarms. I wanted something that worked stand-alone, allowed a mixture of mains-powered and 10-year battery (we don’t have wiring everywhere we needed it).
I ended up going with the AICO/EI radiolink+ range - they do both wired and bettery powered smoke, heat and CO detectors (https://www.aico.co.uk/). To integrate into home assistant, I managed to get hold of an Ei414 fire/co interface for a steal on E-bay. This essentially has an RF link to all of your alarms, and then relay outputs for fire, CO and fault. I hooked the relay outputs up to an ESP8266 running ESP home to add sensors to home assistant.
I don’t have it configured to trigger the alarms through HA, but looking at the spec sheet, the Ei414 also has inputs to trigger the fire relay that you could probably use to trigger the alarm via the ESP8266 as well:
Thanks for your replies. i preferably am looking for a Z-Wave solution (I dont want to introduce new protocols if not needed). I do like the way you (@srk23) have your systems displayed in HASS!
Same here. In the UK you need interlinked mains powered detectors. I used some standard interlink, Kidde Firex, and purchased a relay module that fits under one of the detectors. I then added a qubino zwave relay (fits in the relay base) and used the input to connect to the relay. When the alarms go off, the qubino has a binary sensor that you can use to turn lights on, have Alexa announce etc
Hi man! I found out that in the Netherlands we have the same rules. They have to be interlinked and it has to be connected to the powering through wires (with a backup battery).
Im really curious how your system works. How do you connect this relay module to the smoke detector? does it work with every smoke detector?
Not sure what you wiring is like but I have a new house and they have installed a connector block from the house wiring to the short cable that plugs into the smoke detector. I connected the relay base to that, pretty simple if you know what all the wires do.
Just seen you photo on original post. You have same as me, short connector wired to connector block behind the existing base
@Holdestmade Do you know if I could use that interlink signal wire to trigger a wifi device like a NodeMCU or D1 Mini? I’m trying to stay away from Z-Wave if possible.
If you use the relay base, it just has dry contacts so you can interface whatever you like. I now use a Shelly one flashed with esphome as I had an issue with zwave and all my devices turned on. Not what I wanted at 2am all lights on and Alexa telling me the smoke alarms were triggered. Only issue I see is you need to get 5v there for the D1 mini.
I did find an article when I originally looked at this where someone directly interfaced without the relay base but I wanted to use a certified product because I did not want to risk insurance or them not working when/if they needed to.
Thanks! My plan is to have the electrician either put a connected smoke detector in my equipment room where I can easily put a D1 Mini or just run a wire and dead-end it there.
Some good solutions there, looking to integrate similarly.
However one of the features of the NEST that I have not seen elsewhere is the self-test function so you can remotely test the alarm without having to do manually. Is anyone aware of another manufacturer with this feature?
No regrets. Wirefree. Hasslefree. Zwave & you can turn on the alarm from HomeAssistant when other events (non smoke) happen. So its also an anti-burglary alarm
