So, my house burned down a couple of years ago. The fire started on an outside wall, went up the wall and into the attic space, spread across the entire house in the attic (with no smoke coming into the house) until the ceiling was about to collapse, which was far too late. Luckily my wife and I were upstairs and hear the rafters crackling, looked outside and saw the wall of fire and got our family out. Had this happened while we were asleep, or downstairs, etc, this could have ended very badly. During the rebuild I asked for smoke detectors in the attic but was told they would go off all the time due to particulate issues up there, etc. From research it seems a temperature sensor is the best way to go, but all the ones I’ve found for smartthings cap out at 122F. This won’t work as I also had attic fans installed as part of the rebuild and they don’t even kick on until 140F to cool the attic, so obviously way above 140F is needed. I’m guessing in the neighborhood of 200F? Does anyone have experience in this/have any recommendations?
My recommendation here is that you contact a fire alarm professional… everything else will be simply guesswork. Real fire alarm sensors are designed to measure rate of rise, ambient temp, as well as particulate matter. Only someone with experience will know what is needed for your particular sitch.
Then you could install to a small panel that offers contact or ZWave output to SmartThings.
Smart smoke alarm in attic might be a better choice?
I just installed a Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave Multi-Sensor 6 in my attic to monitor humidity and temperatures and seams to be working fine (will see come summer). I use it to control power to my attic fans.
Sorry Amazon.ca says it measures to 257 F but their website says only (14 to 122°F)
but I think the smart smoke detector might be better.
I wouldn’t personally rely on smartthings for anything critical like this. A connected smoke detector is the right way to go. Any smart capabilities as an added extra is nice to have but not as supplementary alerting.
I agree. You’d definitely want a stand-alone system able to detect and sound an alarm independently, without relying on SmartThings.
With regards to a sensor, you’ll probably want to get a dedicated heat alarm (like you’d have in a kitchen). There appears to be at least one z-wave example on the market right now, disable the smoke sensor and just have the heat sensor active.
Alternatively, buy any standard/dumb interlinkable heat alarm and connect it to a Fibaro Universal Sensor for the integration to SmartThings.
Dude, that looks like EXACTLY what I need! Thanks!
You can use smoke detectors in an attic, that is why it isn’t a code requirement. It’s essentially either this or nothing, which is what virtually everyone has, nothing in the attic.
I think the main problem with attics is the extremes of temperature and dust. A traditional smoke alarm would be sensitive to dust and may not fare well with potential temperatures endured in the that space. Maybe an interconnected heat detector like that deployed in kitchens are an option?
WST are rated up to 185f. I have one on the wall sort of above and beside my wood stove. I thought they were rated a little lower, so I have it in a place that doesn’t get above 120. I think I’ll move it down a little closer now that I checked the specs. I thought they were only rated to 125. 185 is much better! That would be pretty hot for an attic. . . .