Smart smoke/heat detector systems

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Smart smoke/heat detector systems

ShockProof

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#293383 17-Jan-2022 17:25

Interested to hear what people’s experience is post 2021 for a whole home smoke/heat detection system. This would be a wireless linked system. I really would like one that works in Homekit but they are not sold in NZ, so what else is there? I see Consumer NZ are recommending the Pyrexx PX-1C and the Nest system. Since I am Homekit/Apple oriented, not going to open up to Google so Nest is out, and it is expensive anyway. Pyrexx is also pricey, but better than the nest one. Geekzone people have also recommended Cavius brand in the past. Are there any others?

What does a house system cost when say eight detectors are installed the bridge is also included and is it practical to do yourself or get a professional to install?

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#2852379 17-Jan-2022 18:13

I use nest protect, there’s a homebridge plugin to integrate with HomeKit

Works well

timmmay

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#2852448 17-Jan-2022 19:56

After thinking about it for ages we went with Cavius wireless recently. There's too many smart home standards, this one is dedicated and Just Works. As older ones fail we'll add more Cavius detectors. We mostly wanted to be able to hear if the office smoke alarm went off, with three doors between us and the office it's pretty quiet. We put a smoke detector in the office and a heat detector in the kitchen so we'll hear if either go off.

Senecio

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#2852455 17-Jan-2022 20:05

I'm also using Nest Protect with the Homebridge plugin. Having them in HomeKit is great, if any of the smoke detectors go off all my Hue lights come on throughout the house.

morrisk

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#2852478 17-Jan-2022 20:53

Also using Nest Protect with Homebridge plugin and very happy.

insane

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#2852490 17-Jan-2022 21:34

timmmay:
After thinking about it for ages we went with Cavius wireless recently. There's too many smart home standards, this one is dedicated and Just Works. As older ones fail we'll add more Cavius detectors. We mostly wanted to be able to hear if the office smoke alarm went off, with three doors between us and the office it's pretty quiet. We put a smoke detector in the office and a heat detector in the kitchen so we'll hear if either go off.

Have done the same, for something so important I don't want to rely on 3rd party systems or have poor battery life. Got other problems to deal with :)

SumnerBoy

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#2852696 18-Jan-2022 09:34

I am building a new home and recently bought a set of these;

https://www.clipsal.com/products/detail?CatNo=755RLPSMA4

https://www.clipsal.com/products/detail?CatNo=755RFB2

They are mains powered smoke alarms, which are interconnected so that if one goes off they all sound. They each have a lithium backup battery (non-removable) which provides backup if the power goes out.

Then by adding the relay base I can wire them up to my home automation system so it will be notified if they are triggered. The relay base also has dry contacts for TEST and HUSH functions. You can either wire these back to a wall mounted switch or again hook it up to your home automation system.

These don't have integrations out-of-the-box but with a little Arduino or similar can be pretty easily setup to integrate with HA or openHAB or NodeRED etc.

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mclean

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#2852719 18-Jan-2022 10:12

If you're serious about it, and life-safety systems are as serious as it gets, then consider a system that complies with NZS 4514, and if you're doing the whole house from scratch then preferably make it hard-wired. Standards like this are written from many years of hard-won experience.

If you want your home automation to react to a fire (and I certainly wouldn't trust my HA with any of the alarm or fault monitoring functions) then you can do it through auxiliary relays that don't affect the primary function of the system.

SumnerBoy

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#2852725 18-Jan-2022 10:27

Couldn't agree more - hence why I went with the Clipsal Firetek alarms. They work entirely independently of any automation system. All the smarts are parasitic in nature - monitoring their state only.

mattenz

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#2852889 18-Jan-2022 14:28

SumnerBoy:

I am building a new home and recently bought a set of these;

https://www.clipsal.com/products/detail?CatNo=755RLPSMA4

https://www.clipsal.com/products/detail?CatNo=755RFB2

They are mains powered smoke alarms, which are interconnected so that if one goes off they all sound. They each have a lithium backup battery (non-removable) which provides backup if the power goes out.

Then by adding the relay base I can wire them up to my home automation system so it will be notified if they are triggered. The relay base also has dry contacts for TEST and HUSH functions. You can either wire these back to a wall mounted switch or again hook it up to your home automation system.

These don't have integrations out-of-the-box but with a little Arduino or similar can be pretty easily setup to integrate with HA or openHAB or NodeRED etc.

I had heard that you can't interconnect and monitor the relay at the same time, is that not the case?

dfnt

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#2852965 18-Jan-2022 15:28

The integration into homekit doesn't impact the primary function of the nest protect fire alarms.. they still go off and alert you just the same irrespective of whether you have it in homekit.

ShockProof

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#2853038 18-Jan-2022 18:29

Lots of good advice, thanks, and a new one to look at, Clipsal brand.

Regarding meeting the NZ standard NZS 4514:2021 for interconnected smoke alarm for houses. I have just looked at this standard. It’s a brief one, and really just a basic guide on what the best install practice is and what an interonnected system is required to have. Really says very little about the wireless system and I would expect that any home automation system would comply, if they wanted to comply it, which I doubt anyone is going to do for the NZ market.

The wireless smoke detectors communicate with each other from what I can see, making a network of their own. This appears to me to be a good system, and then adding a hub means you can look at it in the manufacturer's app. If it also went into HomeKit, that is giving extra benefit, but sadly not yet in NZ.

I can see Pyrexx PX-1C being sold in NZ by direct importers, stating that they run at 868.3 MHz. Is this frequency available for fire alarm systems here, seems like the radio band is only permitted for something other types of devices? The Clipsal FireTek one uses 433.42 MHz and Cavius is using 926.365 Mhz (both permitted in NZ for "general user radio licence" for Short Range Devices so seems OK). There are more normal sellers of the Pyrexx as well like Ideal electrical, but I can't see specs on their website.

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SumnerBoy

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#2853089 18-Jan-2022 21:49

mattenz:

I had heard that you can't interconnect and monitor the relay at the same time, is that not the case?

I don't believe so, but I haven't installed mine to test properly yet.

Nothing in the manuals and specs I have read so far have any mention of it,

mattenz

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#2853216 19-Jan-2022 10:20

SumnerBoy:

mattenz:

I had heard that you can't interconnect and monitor the relay at the same time, is that not the case?

I don't believe so, but I haven't installed mine to test properly yet.

Nothing in the manuals and specs I have read so far have any mention of it,

Thanks, will be keen to hear about your experience!

mclean

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#2853405 19-Jan-2022 12:24

What usually distinguishes a system designed to a standard is it's ability to alert you when things go wrong. For a wired system that could be loss of power or a wiring fault. For a wireless system it's a dying battery or loss of connectivity with the other detectors in the network.

Wireless systems usually let you test the network connectivity manually, but not many will actually alert you when a detector goes AWOL.

msukiwi

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#2854345 20-Jan-2022 19:04

I have had a Cavius Wireless "system" including 6 Smoke Detectors and 1 Remote/Torch here with the Cavius Gateway (Which is no longer available) / App etc.

3 of the units developed a random false detection. (Not at the same time) I had a spare and re-purposed one. When the 3rd unit failed I contacted Cavius here in NZ to see if they were aware of any problems. (Not Low Battery alarm, and a new battery made no difference, or extra vacuuming, or air blowing also made no difference)

Cavius couried me replacements at no charge, including a pre-paid bag to send back the faulty units, and even logged the pick-up job for the courier.

I can't recommend them highly enough. Even without the Gateway, when 1 goes = they all go off and the one which triggered it flashes!

Well done Cavius NZ.

10/10 For Service and Result. Full system restored and tested.

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