Switch off power to a microwave when a smoke sensor activates (UK)

I’m new to SmartThings so please excuse my ignorance. I need to set up a safety cut-out for an elderly relative. Would anyone be able to recommend a smoke sensor and power plug I could use together to turn off a microwave when the smoke sensor activates please? Would any SmartThings compliant devices do this? Do I need any other kit?

Thanks very much, Pete

It’s possible to do this with any smart plug that works with smartthings and any smoke sensor that works with smartthings, but the question is the reliability.

Smartthings themselves say in their product usage guidelines that you should not rely on it for anything that might impact health or safety.

So if you want to use it just as a convenience feature, that’s fine, just prepare for the idea that it might fail every once in a while.

If you find a Wi-Fi plug that works for your microwave specifications and that works with smartthings and that does not require a hub and you find a smoke sensor that works with smartthings that does not require a hub, then you won’t require a smartthings/Aeotec hub to do this. You’ll just need the smart plug and the smoke detector.

I personally use Meross brand WiFi plugs: They are well engineered, have good safety certifications, are available in both the US and the UK, and work well with smartthings. But I haven’t looked at the specifications to see if there is one that would work with the microwave, and again, different microwaves have different specifications. so it all comes down to the first rule of home automation: the model number matters. :sunglasses:

Also, what country are you in? The device selection does vary.

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BTW, speaking of “the model number matters“ there are microwaves that have their own built-in smoke sensors and will turn themselves off if smoke is detected. That would be a more reliable option if you want to look into those.

Perhaps a temperature sensor would also help, located somewhere near the microwave. It is hard to know what temperatures are found near a Microwave if something catches fire though
Smoke for sure would be a good indicator, maybe a temp sensor as a secondary indicator

Would this help

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Thank you very much for all your help JD. I’m in the UK and there aren’t any microwaves available here with smoke sensors. I’ll look at the Merros products and set it up. Thanks again! Pete

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Thanks Mike. Unfortunately the product isn’t available in for 230V 50Hz and I live in the UK. I guess I could use a voltage transformer to power the device and a contactor to drive the 230V side but that seems like a messy solution!

Thanks again Mike. I’ll look into it.

Actually that’s quite funny, I searched for US items as most peeps coming onto or in the forum are US based

I’m in the UK as well Pete, your not responsible for the over cooking are you ?? Looking at your username :neutral_face:

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Mike I’m the technical director for www.unicook.co.uk and we distribute a product that prevents stovetop fires. So I guess my handle is a little inappropriate in that context as well!

Shame you can’t utilise one of stove units in some manner

By the way you have a link on your website for the airis-c I think it was, it links to Amazon but returns page can’t be found… just a heads up

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Another thought, if your relative cooks similar things all the time just the use of a power sensing plug might do, you could set up an automation that detects if power goes above a set limit for set duration then power off

Hi Mike, Thanks for letting me know. I’ll get that fixed.

The Airis technology is very sophisticated and part of that is AI specifically to recognise stove top cooking activity (safe and unsafe). So unfortunately there’s no way to redeploy it. I believe fires in microwaves rarely cause kitchen fires in part because the confined space is quickly devoid of oxygen should a fire start. The main problem is wrecked microwave ovens and calls to telecare and potentially the fire service when smoke alarms activate. Mostly the problem isn’t down the power level, but the length of time. When you put something on for an hour it can get pretty hot and smokey!!!

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In that case a power sense plug with a suitable automation would definitely benefit, cutting power after set amount of time

This then negates any incorrect settings used by the microwave user

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