I am interested in seeing if anyone has a solution for a outdoor pool entry alarm using ST? I have a 2.5 year old and while we keep a constant eye on here and have entry/exit door chimes, I was wondering if there was some sort of solution if she were ever to accidentally fall into the pool? I know other solutions exist but all of them seem to have their drawbacks. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I would not trust SmartThings for any potential life and death alarms, itâs just not reliable enough.
Get a purpose-built pool alarm instead. Since the toddler will presumably only be home if an adult is home, local alarms should be fine.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says subsurface alarms are best, and youâll get many fewer false alarms than with a surface alert. A good system will probably cost about $450, maybe even a little more, but well worth it when you have years of monitoring ahead.
Thatâs kind of what I figured, but it seems like all the subsurface ones that are being sold are pretty horrible. Nothing has more than 3 stars on Amazon. Plus I would hate for the thing to false alarm when I am not home and now know about it while it blares through the neighborhood. Hence why I was trying to see if there was something that would alert me via ST.
I donât think you can trust Amazon reviews for something like this: too many people downgrade for cost. Look for Good Housekeeping or Consumer Reports evaluations instead.
As far as the false alarm problem, I understand the concern. If it was me, Iâd add a sound activated camera pointed at the pool, set the sensitivity high enough that only the pool alarm would activate it, and get a notification from that.
I normally take any review on Amazon with a grain of salt. You can see trends, however, most folks only make reviews when they are mad about something. Also, you are dealing with consumer confusion as well. If someone canât figure something out (I donât want to say âdenseâ here), they tend to blame the product.
For our pool, we have to have it gated (I think this is common place). If you have a deck, it needs a self closing gate. If you have just stairs to get in, they need to be collapsable. In our case, I put a sensor on my deck gate. That will only tell me if someone from inside went âtowardâ the pool. After we get a second deck put around the pool (still waiting for the deck company to get back to me :sighs), I plan on a similar set up. I currently donât have anything on our collapsible stairs. Itâs highly annoying.
We have a fence around our back yard as well, but a separate fence for our pool is kind of unfeasible based on how our pool was designed. I have not been able to find any of the $400+ pool alarms that @JDRoberts was referring to but most of the popular ones seem to be listed on Amazon with pretty bad reviews. It doesnât seem like any of them are very âsmartâ.
Just spit balling here, but would it be possible to have a motion sensing outdoor camera that could then play an alert through my Sonos speakers and/or phone? I know ST isnât that reliable for something like this but I am just trying to think of alternatives.
The espio is a popular high end brand that scored well in the CPSC tests. But I donât think most people get these from Amazon, try a pool supply company.
just my two cents as an ex-life guard, if you dont have a fence around the pool its self, seriously consider a safety cover for it.
Agree also with everyone who said you also need a fence and a gate sensor.
Back to in water alarmsâŠ
Poolguard is a very popular midrange pool alarm. The difference between this and the more expensive ones is the higher end donât have to be removed from the pool when youâre swimming. The Poolguard does, which also means an older child, say 7 or 8, can intentionally bypass it.
A third option is the Poolguard floating buoy alarm. Cheaper yet, and obviously can be intentionally bypassed, but better than nothing. And if you donât want false alarms while youâre gone, you can take it out of the pool.
I donât mind spending the money on a higher end pool alarm, I just didnât know they existed. I am looking into the Espio one now. We have a Rhino cover for the winter but no safety net/cover for in season and a good pool alarm seems to be the best option.
Talk to your local brick and mortar pool supply house. They should have some options, including an installed price. You may still want to do it yourself, but itâs worth seeing whatâs available.
Teach her to swim as soon as possible. Alarms are fine but why not.