First Alert Smoke Detector - Iris

Ran across this First Alert Smoke and Carbon detector at Lowes - it does not indicate if it is Zwave.

Any thought on this working.

The product code is zcombo.

UPC 029054011381

Well, it definitely uses a mesh network:

http://www.firstalert.com/faqs/onelink/what-is-a-mesh-network-and-how-does-it-work

But there isn’t any data on which mesh network it uses. According to this link: http://www.lowes.com/cd_How+Iris+Works_379038320_ Iris uses Zigbee, Zwave, and WiFi. I think it’s safe to assume these detectors are NOT using Wifi, so it’s gotta be one of the Z’s. If I think I’d lean towards it being Zigbee, which means there’s probably less of a chance of getting it work easily with SmartThings.

The FirstAlert ONELINK smoke detectors use a proprietary protocol call EZMac. They operate the 900mhz ISM band.

There is a bridge used in the INSTEON system. You can Google INSTEON Smoke Bridge for more info.

Having a wired smoke detector is high on my list of things to get. I’ve been holding out upgrading mine till I know what will be compatible with SmarThings/Z-wave. Would love to have a smokebridge-like device to read the OneLink and echo it over Z-wave.

@imbrian,

Check out this thread: http://build.smartthings.com/forums/topic/connected-smoke-alarms/

@chrisb - Yeah, I’d read through that and it looks promising. Unfortunately, with my condo, I don’t have any obvious or convenient places to tap into the wiring. Having something wireless that can act on a radiant signal from a standard device would be ideal to me (such as the Smoke Bridge). I suspect we’ll have many more options soon, as this is one use case SmartThings had mentioned in their original KickStart pitch. Once people catch on that alerting you “hey, your stuff is on fire” is an important message for you to get whether you’re home or not, I think we’ll start seeing more connected devices. http://canarydetector.com/ for one, looks interesting.

I brought this from Lowe’s and it is a Z Wave device and works with any Z Wave system. It comes up as a binary sensor. I haven’t did much with it yet. Lowe’s has another one that will send you a message to an email account and I"m going to buy the device and see if I can get it to work with smarthing.

Sweet. Thanks for sharing that info @llcanada.

Does it change it’s state in ST when tested or activated? Also, can you turn the alarm portion of the detector on or off via SmartThings?

To be honest I have done no test etc on the unit. I brought this and the Utilitech Water leak detector and they both come up in the smartthing program in fact the water sensor came up as the Everspring Flood Sensor. I have not done any test to see what they can do but I plan to and will report back. I’m on the road alot. Sorry one other item i purchase was the Utilitech Wireless Indoor Siren from lowe’s also and it works and the alarm goes on went I turn it on but that as far as I got to test the unit.

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Thanks. I’m looking forward to hearing your test results. I’m about ready to replace a number of my smoke detectors (some of them are really old and just not working properly anymore) and if these work I’ll lean towards getting them.

I’m interested in two things:

First: Does the alarm report to the hub when it’s been activated? I’d like to use Blake idea from the other smoke alarm thread and make ST turn on all my lights when a fire is detected. I also would like to send myself a text so that if I’m not home I can find out about the problem right away.

Second: Is it possible to access the alarm from ST? That is to say: Can I have smartthings turn on the alarm outside of if there is smoke or not? It would be nice to be able to use this as a siren for other situations.

Oh, one other question too: Do they have these in stock at the store or do you need to order then online? I know a lot of the Iris stuff is only available for order.

Thanks again,

Chris

Hi all, my first post on this forum - but thought I’d share. I bought one of the “zcombo” spoke detector/CO detector combos tonight.

FWIW, the instructions read as follows:

“The alarm will operate with 3rd party, certified Z-wave devices. Basic command class required by all Z-wave devices. By the requirements of the Device Class spec, this command class does not have to be mapped to any particular functionality for this device”

I followed the directions to add it (hold down test button while sliding the battery holder thing in), and it showed up as a “Z-wave sensor” device.

Its reported “active” and “inactive” states - I haven’t gotten it to provide any sensor states so far.

As I’m new to this, any tips as to how to get this thing running would be much appreciated!

Thx!

I suspect the ST crew will need to create a new device type to support the FirstAlert Z-wave smoke and co devices. The z-wave command class for alarms (i.e. COMMAND_CLASS_ALARM) to be precise.

The z-wave conformance statement for the ZSMOKE is at http://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/863/pics and the ZCOMBO is at http://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/862/pics

The Alarm V1 and V2 are supported but there most likely needs to be a custom device type developed for the Smoke Alarm.

@spacenoodle1 can you open a support ticket by emailing support@smartthings.com? They will kick it to me.

@urman - are you comfortable with the reliability of the ST service/infrastructure today to recommend that someone use it for their fire detection system?

@rickbullotta I have my smoke alarms hooked to ST using a relay and a door sensor. From my point of view, the smoke alarms themselves are the primary fire detection system so as long they are functioning as they should the ST service doesn’t matter. The benefit ST provides are secondary: if they don’t work it should not pose a safety issue.

That being said through multiple tests and one midnight “unplanned test” the ST service has worked well. My smoke alarms are configured to turn on all of the lights in the house when the alarms sound and also send an alert to my phone. During the midnight false alarm I experienced, this worked flawlessly. Having the lights all come on, allowed my wife to quickly get to our 10 month old son and me to check the house once it was obvious there was no actual fire.

@rickbullotta,

are you comfortable with the reliability of the ST service/infrastructure today to recommend that someone use it for their fire detection system?

I suspect that the smoke detector will work independently from ST. I mean it will still sound the alarm if smoke is detected. It’s just that hopefully more will be able to be done. So a connected Smoke Alarm will always be able to do at least as much as a non-connected Smoke Alarm… even if ST is totally down.

@trotsky40 @chrisb - thanks for the feedback. i was actually thinking of the scenario when no one is home. clearly the smoke/fire detectors have local annunciation, but what happens when you’re away, and you’re expecting a notification if something bad occurs and the infrastructure is down? versus a traditional alarm company with 7x24 monitoring, dedicated communication line, and so on. i’m not presupposing that the status quo is great, just that the next new thing also needs to be as reliable. the companion question is, even if the ST infrastructure is working fine, but you’re out of cell range camping, what happens? i’m wondering if maybe in these scenarios there needs to be a callable service that notifies a central dispatcher/911/emergency response organization.

@rickbullotta,

Ah, I see what you’re saying. For me that’s not a problem as I’m not using and had no plans to start using a 24/7 monitoring company. I wouldn’t be replacing that service with the SmartThings service. I’d just be adding functionality.

As far as a callable service… that wouldn’t be hard to do at all and perhaps would be a way for SmartThings to make some revenue.

I have 3 Simplisafe alarms systems with monitoring. It’s 3 generations old technology but it’s core functionality works. Until recently, they didn’t offer smoke/fire so I hacked a $10 smoke detector with a ZigBee radio and had another radio where I soldered the I/O pins to one of their door/window magnets reed switch points. The alarm company sees it as a burglary/entry sensor alert and not fire/smoke but at least its monitored and they will dispatch police (who would arrive, see my house burning down and call the fire department). I do t see why the same concept wouldn’t work with ST since ZigBee is native to the system. You would have to code up something as an app but it seems like a simple solution and the ZigBee radios are inexpensive. You do need a regulator to drop the typical 9vdc to the 3.3 the radio needs but that’s a 30 cent part (and maybe a cap to filter it but that’s another 10 cents).

@rickbullotta

@urman – are you comfortable with the reliability of the ST service/infrastructure today to recommend that someone use it for their fire detection system?

Thats a though question to answer. I REALLY REALLY try not to give supporty answers or copouts but smoke/fire detectors carry such heavy liability I’d have to say no. We’re currently taking steps to look into them and I’ll say there a major legal requirements to meet. Like @chrisb said they have to work as a smoke/fire detector stand alone, its hard to say that in 100% of scenarios ANY service will be able to notify you. A fire could take out any part of connectivity before the sensor even goes off.

Another item that carries a lot of liability and difficulty playing around with? Elevators. SUPER regulated.