I have always been an admirer of new technology, especially with that of start ups out there such as Pebble, Nano Leaf, and even including Nest Labs. When Nest Labs first came out with their Nest thermostat, it was very interesting to see how it functioned, however the price point of $249 CDN in my books was not worth the cause. However after seeing more demonstrations of it, I think that investing in a Nest Lab product by itself is an investment.
Nest Labs then came out with the Nest Protect, their own version of a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector combination, with an interesting set of features, one of them being the Nest Protect can communicate with your Nest thermostat, provided you have one installed already. Again as with such great, new technology, there comes a price point. The Nest Protect retails for $129 CDN + taxes, and if you live in the province of Ontario such as myself, expect to pay that hefty 13% HST. I was always thinking of purchasing the device, but came to the conclusion that I would wait until a sale would come by chance as I would need three of those. One for the main floor, one for upstairs, and the last one being the basement.
To my good fortune, I was able to score the Nest Protect units with a 13% discount, and I thought I would first try it out with two units. I was very excited to open it, and install it as soon as I got home. Consider me as a child who had just first gotten his favourite toy or one of his favourite toys. Yup, that's me, even though I am a 26 year old male. We sure like our toys, right guys? The versions of the Nest Protect I purchased was the 120V wired models, as I had to replace the existing mediocre smoke detectors that the builders had installed. This made things more interesting during the installation process.
The Nest Protect 120V wired comes with three Energizer Lithium Ion AA backup batteries in case the power goes out and you need your Nest Protect device to work. After opening up the box, the contents I found were:
- Manuals, pamphlets, warranty information, etc
- The Nest Protect unit itself
- 3 wire nuts,
- 4 screws
- AC 120V connector
- The backplate
Once I got it cracking, I then decided to turn off the breaker switch for the smoke detectors (MAKE SURE TO DO THIS FOR THE 120V WIRED VERSION), before installation. As far as installation goes, it was pretty straightforward. You remove the existing smoke detector from the ceiling, wall. Then you disconnect the white, black and ground wires. If you have a ground/red wire, Nest Labs suggest that you cap it off with the wire nut provided. Once that's done, you connect the white with the white wire, then the black with the black wire with the wire nuts. Going forward, you install the backplate provided (this can be tricky as you would need to align the screw holes on the junction box properly) as this took me a good while to do especially when you have a 9' ceiling and not a proper step ladder/stool. Fortunately I am 6' tall. When that's all done, you need to tuck the wires back in, connect the black portion of the AC connector to the back of the Nest Protect unit. One thing I forgot to mention is that, please make sure you pair your Nest Protect unit with the Nest App (for iOS and Android) prior to installing it. This way its easy to sync it and make sure its working and connected to your WiFi network. These instructions are provided in the manual/installation guide. Finally after everything is done, you then go about to test the unit and therefore, install the other Nest Protect units.
As far as the Nest app goes for both iOS and Android, the app for both platforms is pretty straightforward and simple to use as its user friendly. You should have no problem in figuring out what to do, as each instruction is clearly shown with picture guides. This is a nice thing that Nest Labs did.
As far as the Nest app goes for both iOS and Android, the app for both platforms is pretty straightforward and simple to use as its user friendly. You should have no problem in figuring out what to do, as each instruction is clearly shown with picture guides. This is a nice thing that Nest Labs did.
Going forward, here are my pros and cons for the unit:
Pros:
- 2 year limited warranty
- 7 year life
- Nest Labs did not cheap out on the parts supplied - i.e. the brand of lithium ion batteries, providing wire nuts and the good quality screws.
- Excellent build quality
- Easy to set up via the app
- The voice is audible when you perform tests.
- The interconnect feature where it communicates with the other Nest Protects and the Nest thermostat.
- Aesthetically it looks great on the ceiling.
Cons:
- Maybe difficult to install into the junction box depending on the layout and this could take up time.
- The path light LED is not that bright to begin with.
- Very costly to replace if you are out of the warranty period, or if you claim more than a certain limit during the warranty period.
- Adding more than one unit will be costly depending on how many existing smoke detectors you have, or plan on installing extra ones.
Final thoughts/concerns/questions:
- Would I get this if it were more expensive? - No
- Would I recommend this product to anyone? - Yes
- Do I think if its an accessory or eye candy to start conversations? - Perhaps
- Do I think its a good investment albeit the cost? - Yes
- What would happen if Nest Labs decides to launch a new version out?
- Will Nest Labs provide firmware updates, and if so how would one go about doing so?
I would definitely consider adding more Nest Labs products in my household, even though it comes with a cost. Of course I would try to save money here and there, but I feel its an investment when purchasing these products. I just hope that Nest Labs offers a great support for their products, and to see how they can shape the modern day home.
Final Score: 8/10
Unboxing Video:
Test Mode Video:
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