Smoke detector "listening devices" - anyone have suggestions?

Hardware
1

So I saw this new thing coming up:

But was wondering if there’s an HA-friendly option like that device that folks have been using to add monitoring for their “dumb, standalone” smoke and CO detectors? I’ve tried the First Alert Z-wave models and had so much trouble I ended up replacing all of them with regular non-smart devices.

I did see this idea:

But that looks like it requires detectors that have a dc-output of some kind, and I don’t think mine do. I was hoping for some type of “listening” device instead.

Thanks for any tips or ideas!

Dennis

2

Another integration might be a Unifi camera (ideally external, but still in audio range) with the local processing of media on-camera.

The HA integration does support the sensor, but I’ve not tested the accuracy.

image
image311×485 21 KB

Personally, I installed Aico wired detectors, and the Ei128RBU relay interface
for a mix of detectors.

3

If you have Z-wave then definitely go with the Zooz smoke/CO detector. You don’t need dc-output. Just connect load, line and interconnect as per the drawing.

zooz
zooz354×312 26.8 KB

Saying that, I do have both versions, the Ring smoke listener and the Zooz and they both work fine.

4

Just reopening this thread to see if anyone knows of any other local, independent, HA compatible detector listeners? My ideal device would be a zigbee device that sits on a shelf and notifies HA when it heres a smoke detector going off.

My house currently has 6 smoke detectors all interconnected. That way if one goes off, they all go off. That is why i can have a single listener in just one room that notifies HA that we have a problem.

5

Ecolink makes a battery listener in both zigbee and z-wave flavors - Ecolink refers to both flavors as the "FireFighter" Smoke/CO Alarm Audio Detector device

But if yours are all interconnected, it really is hard to beat the Zooz solution mentioned above... You just need to install one at one of the smokes in your interconnected network. Zooz's instructions say to put it at the last one, but that's just because the last box often has the most room it in -- it's perfectly OK to put the Z55 at any of the smokes.

I use a Z55, and have been very happy with it - I like not needing to worry about batteries for this kind of thing.

6

@Hydro130 . The problem I have with the Z55 is that it is ZWave. I currently can handle anything except ZWave and Thread.

Thanks for the heads-up on Ecolink. However I cannot find anywhere in the US market that I can purchase the zigbee version. Would you happen to have a link?

7

Ah nuts, I was originally looking at EcoLink's own page about them, but looking at it again now, I just realized they only seem to be listed as "OEM" items... So they must've pulled the FireFighter devices out of the "DIY" product category at some point (these devices used to be readily available on Amazon).

Ebay or another sort of OEM reseller is probably your best bet.

8

See if you can find a US supplier selling this Ecolink model instead Ecolink Zigbee Alarm Listener FFZB1-ECO – URC Support

It's supported in Z2M. No idea about ZHA support though.

EDIT: This is the first US site I found which seems to have it in stock Ecolink Firefighter Zigbee Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Audio Detector | Smart Home Gadgets

9

Supposedly you can get Apple HomePods to listen for smoke/co alarms via Home. I've never tried it.

10

@Velvetfoot You use to be able to use Alexa devices in a mode called Guard to also do this. However. Amazon put that behind a pay wall and then, i believe, got rid of it completely. I would rather not depend on any big company, like Apple or Amazon, for my home security. That is why i am seeking a local, zigbee solution to this rather simple problem.