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.
A standard smoke or CO alarm helps keep you, your family, and your home safe from potential hazards. Every year, an average of 430 people in the U.S. die from accidental CO poisoning, and about 50,000 people visit the ER for CO poisoning incidents. So, it’s a pretty concerning issue, but that’s precisely why your home is already outfitted with a bunch of these devices.
As the name suggests, the Kidde alarm is a Wi-Fi-ready, smart smoke and CO alarm. Your average alarms do not have that feature. Basically, that allows you to check your alarm from anywhere in your home with a mobile app, but also to receive real-time notifications about what’s happening inside your home.
You can also Smart Hush® the smoke alarm from within the app. That is phenomenal when you’re startled awake at 4 a.m. because of an alarm, and everyone is screaming and crying about the noise, and you just want to get back to sleep. You can check and confirm there’s no real fire then turn off the noise. You don’t have to go seek out a ladder in the dark, or stub any of your appendages while lugging it back into the house and getting it propped up. Instead, you can just Smart Hush® it in the Kidde mobile app on your phone.
Using the Kidde app, you can check alerts, interact with the device, and much more. It syncs up with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant too, allowing you to interact with voice commands. You’ll get real-time updates about your Wi-Fi alarm through the app, even if you’re away. So, when you’re sipping on a delicious margarita or daiquiri, and a fleeting thought enters your mind about whether or not you left the oven on, and potentially burned down your beloved home, you can just grab your phone and check-in. It’s that simple.
Additional app features include an option to send out an app-controlled test signal while you’re home, to make sure the alarm is working properly. Yes, Dads, you can use that to scare everyone when you’re feeling devious. You’ll get mobile notifications if smoke or CO are detected in the home. You can also set it up so that friends and family receive notifications too, just in case there’s an emergency. Get that house sitter of yours more proactive and make sure they’re getting alerts about potential incidents. Come on, Susan!
If you have Kidde hardwired interconnected alarms in your home, you can connect them with the Wi-Fi alarm so that when one goes off — even if it’s not the Wi-Fi alarm — they all will sound and send a mobile notification. While that is a great feature, Kidde still recommends multiple Wi-Fi-enabled alarms for full functionality and control. The Kidde Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm with smart features also comes hardwired with a 10-year backup battery, so you don’t have to change it at all. At the end of 10 years, you simply replace the unit. Honestly, changing smoke alarm batteries is the worst. It’s worth grabbing the Kidde alarm for that feature alone!
Above all, it’s much cheaper than its competitors. The Kidde is $90 ($89.97), for instance, compared to Nest Protect’s $119 price tag for just the hardware. It will be available at The Home Depot starting December 12.
