Don't Talk About The Rabbits

When we updated the kitchen and heating system this summer, we added a second Nest Thermostat upstairs. Then we (okay I) spent too much time playing around with setting up the schedule, and checking on it from a distance via the app, and whatnot.

Earlier this week, the three Nest Protects (smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector combos) I had ordered a couple months ago finally arrived. The carbon monoxide detectors we had in the house all died over the last year, so the arrival of this product was nicely timed for us, since it meant we could rip out the now ridiculously old smoke detectors, and combine them into one device.

So, arduinna came over earlier today to help me with the setup and climbing of ladders and drilling and screwing and whatnot, and we got them up. The result is fascinating.

And slightly creepy.

First, I purchased the black model. This tends to me my first instinct with almost any electronic purchase, but in this one instance, I'm thinking perhaps I should have stuck with the boring normal default white color that most smoke detectors are. We had to relocate them a bit, and as a result, they are a bit more obvious than I intended. We'll see if we get used to it.

Setup had a few hiccups as I figured out how to get everything on the network but overall went pretty smoothly.

Drilling them into my ceiling was harder, and a bit exhausting. Apparently my ceilings are made of cement, or something. We discovered the old detectors were not nailed or screwed in place -- they were velcro'd. Previous owners must have given up trying to nail the bastards in. The ceilings are just that tough. But, we got them up eventually, and dubbed them "Basement, Family Room, and Upstairs."

Next, we tested them. This was totally unnerving. I knew from the setup that it would be a woman's voice. I also knew that the Protects, although wireless, and battery powered (not wired -- this house is *old*) were interconnected wirelessly. We were still not prepared for hitting "test" on one Protect to trigger all three to test simultaneously. The same woman's voice echoing from different parts of the house, 1-2 seconds out of sync, reporting in on smoke and carbon monoxide levels, before reporting that all was well, freaked us out waaaaay more than it did the cats.

The Protects flash green when we turn the light off in a room, to let us know everything is fine, which is all as it should be. They also, however, turn on a nightlight -- only when they detect you moving through a room in the dark. Yeah, they are motion sensing us as we stagger towards the bathroom in the dark hallway. mollyamory has been muttering about me bringing Cylons into the house for over an hour now.





Still, this satisfies some kind of weird, deep need of mine to be able to check on the house wherever and whenever I am, and be able to see that all is well, with nice green round symbols on my phone's app, and the "OK" text next to each location.

I have a vague hope Nest will come out with some nice security cameras before we finish re-wiring the house (a slow project that is taking years), so that as soon as they do, I can slap cameras on the front and back porch, and maybe set up a cunningly situated cat-cam to watch the lazy bastards sleep all day while I'm at work.