4 ms·

I recommend the $30 smoke detector puck from the hardware store. It will work for its designed 10-year lifetime, after which you can buy another one to replace

I recommend the $30 smoke detector puck from the hardware store. It will work for its designed 10-year lifetime, after which you can buy another one to replace it. No drama.

ivanmontillam 3y ago
Most of the time no-tech solutions are the most appropriate ones. Imagine if your cloud smoke detector went offline and it didn't trigger because it needed a specialized non-local AI to reliably determine there's a fire.
- teddyh 3y ago
  “The most recent piece of technology I own is a printer from 2004…” — <https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L>
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  > Imagine if your cloud smoke detector went offline and it didn't trigger because it needed a specialized non-local AI to reliably determine there's a fire. That would be a dumb product decision to make. Nest Protect complains about the smallest things, from connectivity (which does not affect detection, by the way), to battery, to positioning, and so far I have been reliably notified in the app. On the other hand, I did have plain smoke detectors before my Nest ones, and at least one was completely dead for a year without no one knowing.
  - ivanmontillam 3y ago
    It's true it'd be a dumb product decision, but you might be overestimating hardnosed Product Managers of shady companies. These are the kind of devices that are probably regulated in your country, but not necessarily elsewhere.
lapetitejort 3y ago
I went all in with Nest Protect. Then a few months later they killed Nest Guard. Now I look at my Protects with trepidation. They wouldn't kill smoke detectors, right? They have to support those for years, right? We shall see.
- coldpie 3y ago
  I went all in on $30 pucks. They sit on the walls doing whatever it is that they do, and I never think about them. I'll replace them when they start doing the low-battery-chirp thing in 8-10 years. Your thing sounds cool too, though.
lucumo 3y ago
Are those the shitty ones that indicate an empty battery by beeping a single beep once every five minutes? I think I took a baseball bat to the last one I had. Those things drive me nuts. It's always a single beep, which isn't enough to locate which one it is. And for some fucked up reason they always start doing that shit right when you're about to fall a sleep. I happily spent hundreds of euros on Nest Protects just because of the sensible early warning of an empty battery. My sanity is easily worth that.
- andrewstuart2 3y ago
  They do it when you're falling asleep for a reason, though not designed deliberately that way. The reason is that the voltage drops when it's colder, so you're much more likely to get those low battery smoke alarms at night in the winter.
- coldpie 3y ago
  Yes, the very same! The trick is to just replace them all when one starts to go. No need to run around locating the beeping one, just take them all down (you can stop and go to bed when you do find the right one) and replace them all next time you swing by the hardware store.
- distantsounds 3y ago
  You mean the ones that have existed for literal decades and still work to this day? Cry me a river because a single beep ruins your mood for 5 minutes, it's probably better than your house burning down.
  - lucumo 3y ago
    Yes, I mean those ones! The ones that end up in a closet somewhere because nobody replaces batteries in the middle of the night and the next morning you can't find the right batteries anyway. Those ones. Bad UI kills.
- flextheruler 3y ago
  That’s a bit hysterical. I mean are you living in a mansion that has hundreds of these things? I think there were three or two in my 5 bedroom house growing up.
manuelabeledo 3y ago
I do think that Nest Protect adds some value over plain smoke detectors, e.g. I don't need to worry about them going nuts in the middle of the night, and I can tell if there is smoke in the house while I'm away.
Tao3300 3y ago
Those are terrible IMO. I've been through several that were tripping false alarms. You can't take the battery out and deal with it later, you have to throw the "break irreparably" switch. I prefer the cheap ones that take a 9V battery. You can take them apart and actually dust them.

I recommend the $30 smoke detector puck from the hardware store. It will work for its designed 10-year lifetime, after which you can buy another one to replace it. No drama.

ivanmontillam 3y ago

Most of the time no-tech solutions are the most appropriate ones. Imagine if your cloud smoke detector went offline and it didn't trigger because it needed a specialized non-local AI to reliably determine there's a fire.

teddyh 3y ago
“The most recent piece of technology I own is a printer from 2004…” — <https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L>
manuelabeledo 3y ago
> Imagine if your cloud smoke detector went offline and it didn't trigger because it needed a specialized non-local AI to reliably determine there's a fire. That would be a dumb product decision to make. Nest Protect complains about the smallest things, from connectivity (which does not affect detection, by the way), to battery, to positioning, and so far I have been reliably notified in the app. On the other hand, I did have plain smoke detectors before my Nest ones, and at least one was completely dead for a year without no one knowing.
- ivanmontillam 3y ago
  It's true it'd be a dumb product decision, but you might be overestimating hardnosed Product Managers of shady companies. These are the kind of devices that are probably regulated in your country, but not necessarily elsewhere.

lapetitejort 3y ago

I went all in with Nest Protect. Then a few months later they killed Nest Guard. Now I look at my Protects with trepidation. They wouldn't kill smoke detectors, right? They have to support those for years, right? We shall see.

coldpie 3y ago
I went all in on $30 pucks. They sit on the walls doing whatever it is that they do, and I never think about them. I'll replace them when they start doing the low-battery-chirp thing in 8-10 years. Your thing sounds cool too, though.

lucumo 3y ago

Are those the shitty ones that indicate an empty battery by beeping a single beep once every five minutes? I think I took a baseball bat to the last one I had. Those things drive me nuts. It's always a single beep, which isn't enough to locate which one it is. And for some fucked up reason they always start doing that shit right when you're about to fall a sleep. I happily spent hundreds of euros on Nest Protects just because of the sensible early warning of an empty battery. My sanity is easily worth that.

andrewstuart2 3y ago
They do it when you're falling asleep for a reason, though not designed deliberately that way. The reason is that the voltage drops when it's colder, so you're much more likely to get those low battery smoke alarms at night in the winter.
coldpie 3y ago
Yes, the very same! The trick is to just replace them all when one starts to go. No need to run around locating the beeping one, just take them all down (you can stop and go to bed when you do find the right one) and replace them all next time you swing by the hardware store.
distantsounds 3y ago
You mean the ones that have existed for literal decades and still work to this day? Cry me a river because a single beep ruins your mood for 5 minutes, it's probably better than your house burning down.
- lucumo 3y ago
  Yes, I mean those ones! The ones that end up in a closet somewhere because nobody replaces batteries in the middle of the night and the next morning you can't find the right batteries anyway. Those ones. Bad UI kills.
flextheruler 3y ago
That’s a bit hysterical. I mean are you living in a mansion that has hundreds of these things? I think there were three or two in my 5 bedroom house growing up.

manuelabeledo 3y ago

I do think that Nest Protect adds some value over plain smoke detectors, e.g. I don't need to worry about them going nuts in the middle of the night, and I can tell if there is smoke in the house while I'm away.

Tao3300 3y ago

Those are terrible IMO. I've been through several that were tripping false alarms. You can't take the battery out and deal with it later, you have to throw the "break irreparably" switch. I prefer the cheap ones that take a 9V battery. You can take them apart and actually dust them.