Hi,
I am using some Z-Wave devices in my Home Assistant installation and I’m wondering if it’s possible to add some Z-Wave smoke detector to have a local and remote alarm in case of fire.
I will need to add two smoke detectors in the the basement and in the garage, where I don’t have any other Z-Wave devices at the moment so I really think that there is no Z-Wave network there: there are some Z-Wave network gateways or should I switch to some other platform (I am not able to find any Wi-Fi smoke detectors)?
In addition to my already installed hard wire detectors, I have two First Alert Z-Wave Battery Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Combo devices for precisely the reason you described. They have worked great for the last 5 years, but I believe they are not Z-Wave Plus. Perhaps there is a newer model.
If range is the issue, I would install a wall powered switch close by to improve the mesh.
As far as FirstAlert Zsmokes, great! you have them so you already know they cant cross alert.
Halo was a great offering until they went under. Unfortunately you may still find second hand units but i dont advise picking them up because you should replace the unit within ten years (detection media) and any halos still on the market have less than half thier effective life remaining…
You can get more Zsmokes of course, Normal ZWave planning apllies. I do believe the newest ones are Plus. But they still wont cross alert.
Nest won’t pull Nest smokes in through the Google integration. (I bought Nests shortly after Halo folded) mine were successfully connected through smartthings using the pre Google Nest integration so I kept them there and linked mine through SmartThings. They’re 5 years old now and im already looking at replacing them. I chose Nest over Zsmokes because interconnect IS a requirement in my city and the wireless interconnect from Nest was ruled as meeting the requirements for interconnected smokes.
What im likely doing for the next solution is using something like the Kiddie SM120x relay (designed to sit on the smoke detection loop and close a switch if an alert is detected) and tie that to a ZWave, Zigbee, Esp32, pick your poison on tech) sensor. Now if ANY of my smokes (dumb, smart, whatever, as long as they’re industry standard and are properly wired into the Smoke loop) alert then HA picks it up…
You say Nathan l, thats great but I dont know which one it was… To that my answer is, graphs and dashboards are nice to look at but I’m also an ex firefighter. The answer is it simply doesnt matter. Smoke is a binary alert - If its alerting, you should be getting out or have already identified and be clearing smoke. Not worried about what room is alerting. We’ll deal with that later.
These appear to be discontinued. All of the usual sources are out of stock, the First Alert store says it’s discontinued. Lowes Home Improvement has stopped carrying it. But I don’t see it being replaced by anything new.
True, but the two First Alert Z-Wave Smoke Detectors I have installed have the same Lithium AA batteries for the last 4 years and are still showing over 90% charge.
For me, it not about how long the battery last. In my area I have to haver interconnected smoke detectors. I really wish someone would make a wired interconnected zwave/ZigBee.
