Leeo listens for your smoke alarm, sends you an alert when it goes off

By Drew Prindle October 24, 2014

Dig the idea of having an intelligent, network-connected smoke alarm in your house, but don’t want to shell out big bucks to replace your oldschool alarms with those of the “smart” (and expensive) variety? Well good news: there’s a new gizmo on the market that doesn’t require you to replace your old hardware to get smart alarm functionality.

Rather than taking over for your existing smoke/carbon monoxide alarms, Leeo works with the gear you’ve already got, and uses a clever technique to connect it to the Web without any wires. Instead, the device plugs into your wall and simply listens for the frequency and patterns of your smoke/carbon monoxide alarms. If Leeo’s microphone ever hears that specific sound, it then uses your home’s Internet connection to send an alert to your phone — no matter where you might be in the world.

Recommended Videos

Related: The Roost smart battery adds smartphone connectivity to your oldschool smoke alarm

Because it relies on sound to determine if your smoke alarm has been activated, Leeo doesn’t require any sort of complicated install process. You don’t even need to take your existing smoke alarms down from their perches — you just plug it in, connect it to your network, and forget about it. Once configured, the device stands as a sentinel; always on, always listening, and always ready to let you know when your house might be in danger.

And that’s not all. As you’d expect from any card-carrying smart device, Leeo also has a slew of other sensors under the hood that give it additional capabilities. In addition to alerts, the device can also function as a smart night light. Using the accompanying app, users can set Leeo’s embedded LEDs to switch on or off on a schedule, or even act as a visual alarm in the event of an emergency. It’s also equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, so you can configure it to send alerts for climate changes as well.

And the best part? It’s actually available. No crowdfunding campaign to wait through, no worrying about manufacturing delays — this thing is already built and ready to ship. You can get your hands on one for $99 on Leeo’s website.

Topics

Internet of Things (IoT)

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

Deals

Why you need Kidde’s New Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Wi-Fi Alarm with smart features

Discussing install of Kidde Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Wi-Fi Alarm.

Available now exclusively at The Home Depot, the Kidde Wi-Fi smart alarm will modernize smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. The best smart home devices make life simpler, and safer, and that's where Kidde fits in. Undoubtedly, you have some questions about what it is, what it can do, and why you would want one? Who needs a smoke or CO alarm connected to the internet? Those are great questions.

Deals

Home Depot’s new Kidde Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Wi-Fi alarm is made for your smart home

Family using Kidde mobile app.

It's always exciting to see new devices introduced to the modern age, particularly with useful smart features. Like Home Depot's newest smart home device, the Kidde Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm with smart features. It offers an excellent selection of useful features, integrations, and beyond -- it even works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

It is a Wi-Fi-enabled, smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that syncs up with other Kidde alarms in your home as long as they are interconnected via hardwire. It's hardwired, but unlike a standard alarm, has a 10-year backup battery. Most importantly, it delivers alerts, notifications, and information right to where you are, your mobile device, thanks to a Kidde mobile app. Why would you want a smart alarm with a mobile app? It can send alerts to you directly when something is amiss. From within your home, you can deactivate false alarms much quicker, especially if you have vaulted ceilings, without the need for a ladder or step stool. You can also set up the app to notify other important contacts like friends and family. The best part is that it's available at a fraction of the cost of its competitors, like Nest, First Alert Onelink, and so on. The Kidde smart alarm is just $90 ($89.97), compared to Nest Protect which is $119 for just the hardware.

Smart Home

7 things you didn’t know your smart thermostat could do

Ecobee smart thermostat installed on wall next to woman walking down stairs.

At their core, smart thermostats can learn about when you're coming and going and adjust the temperature automatically. Over time, however, smart thermostats have leveraged their intelligence to do some interesting things well beyond that basic mission. Let's dig into some of the more obscure features we're seeing in the latest smart thermostats. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something you didn't know your own smart thermostat could do.
Adjust for sun exposure
If your thermostat is exposed to sunlight, it can skew the ambient temperature reading. The little spot the thermostat inhabits could be a fair bit warmer than the rest of the home. This means either heating could be prevented from turning on automatically, cooling will be prematurely activated, or the overall data on your home's heating and cooling status will be inaccurate.

Some manufacturers, like Nest, have built in a feature that counteracts this artificial spike in temperature reading. Since many smart thermostats have light sensors to automatically adjust the display brightness, they can also be used to see if there's an overlap between when brightness increases and when an abnormal spike in temperature is read. Once it figures out how much the temperature increases in that span of time, it can automatically reduce the reading to get something more accurate for the rest of the house.
Talk to voice assistants