Not everything in your house needs to be a smart device. It’s important to consider what you really want to control with your phone, voice, or with some kind of third-party hub. It’s absolutely true that smart devices can make your life a lot easier.
But you also need to be realistic. You may think that installing a lot of smart home devices turns you into Tony Stark. But you’re really just relying on your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections to keep your home together. If you don’t have battery backups for a lot of your devices, some of which don’t even offer them, you could be out of luck using them during a power outage. I have no issue counting on something that is designed to either be controlled by a battery or by another mechanism entirely. There are three devices I’ve kept as “dumb” devices in my home.
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A traditional front door knob
It doesn’t mean I can’t use a smart lock with it
I get the appeal of having a smart lock. I’ve tested many of them over the years. I’ve installed them in my home, my parents’ home, and my siblings’ homes as well. Each of them has different quirks, and many of them can work universally with all kinds of doors. You can find ones that sync up with your smart home ecosystem, letting you control them from hubs, apps, or with your voice.
Even though I have a Yale Smart Lock on my front door, I trust it because it only works with the deadbolt. There are smart locks that don’t have any key option, and they eliminate the need for a physical doorknob or lock. I didn’t want to not have the option to open my door with a key.
When we purchased my house, we noticed that a lot of power outages were occurring. We realized that many of our neighbors have generators that kick on when the power goes out. After a few years of dealing with these outages, we opted for a full-house generator ourselves. So, when the power goes out, I’m not worried about not being able to have power as well as Wi-Fi.
But for the times when we don’t have it, the battery backup for our devices, like our Ring security system and the smart lock, will kick in. It’s not ideal to always be relying on the battery backup, as they will eventually die. I’m not saying that this is something that I’m expecting to happen frequently, but it is a possibility. The last thing that I want to have happen is not be able to open my front door or garage door because the power is out.
If the power were out, I would unlock the deadbolt if I were home, just in case the battery backup kicked in. That way, if we were leaving, and I came home and the power was still out, I could unlock the front door with my key. I do have keys for the back door as well, and never put a smart lock on that door at all, so I’d be able to get in with a key there as well. But not being able to get into my house because the power was out and the battery backup failed is something I didn’t want to risk.
I know this may seem like overkill, but what are the odds that this situation occurs? But I always preferred to be safe rather than sorry in these terms. Now that we have a generator, I’m not as worried about this. But I have still kept the one smart lock on the front door only.
Smoke alarms are here to stay
I won’t compromise on this
I may seem old school with this one, but I have no desire to have a smart smoke alarm. I don’t need to see how it’s doing from my phone. I’d rather just have it work properly without fail. I don’t want to worry about my Wi-Fi signal affecting whether it rings because it senses smoke.
I know there are battery backups for this as well, but I haven’t had any issue with anything like a First Alert smoke alarm. So I’m not going to risk changing it. Plus, smart smoke alarms drain the battery faster. So, if your power goes out, the battery backup is likely to die faster because the drain to keep the smart smoke alarm up and running is greater than the traditional option.
Obviously, the large plus of having a smart smoke alarm is knowing something is happening if you aren’t at home. But I would rather it works even if I’m unaware of what’s happening.
What I could do is supplement it by having a few smart ones and a few dumb ones, so that I’d be able to know if something is going on if I wasn’t there. That is a possibility and a compromise. But I will never get rid of my regular smoke alarms.
A carbon monoxide detector is a must
It’s similar to the smoke alarm
In the same vein as the smoke detector, I won’t mess around with a carbon monoxide detector that isn’t a traditional one. Many smart smoke alarms are also carbon monoxide detectors. This offers you peace of mind that you can check both on your smartphone app.
But the same issues apply if your power goes out. You won’t be able to access it if the battery backup goes out, too. Carbon monoxide detectors can be even more vital than smoke detectors because carbon monoxide doesn’t have the distinct smell that smoke does. I’d rather know if something was going on in my house, thanks to a “dumb” device that is powered by batteries.
The most important thing when it comes to battery backups is being diligent about changing them when they might run low. If you’re on top of changing your smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector batteries, they should last for years.
I just want some of my devices to be simple
Some may say that my insistence on having dumb devices in my home is silly. But I feel a certain way that items that can protect my family in the long run should be as simple as possible. Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors should work as they have for years, which means they rely on batteries. Having an entryway that can be unlocked by key may make it easier for thieves to pick. But I’m happier to be able to unlock it myself if something goes wrong with my power. Maybe my feelings will change someday about these items. But for now, I’m happy with the way things are.
