Place Any Space Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector review

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US$138.95

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When it comes to home security and fire protection devices, should you have a separate detector for each room based on the typical activities that occur there? That's the question Gentex aims to answer with its Place series of security devices, arguing that your kitchen, nursery and garage deserve custom-made smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors.

It sounds logical, at least on paper, but the prices Gentex expects to fetch for its line of Wi-Fi-connected (wired for power and interconnected) Place devices, some of which also come with built-in security cameras, could push the idea even further before it gets off the ground.

Specifications

As stated above, Gentex doesn't make just one room detector, it offers four models, each designed with a specific room in mind, although they all come with carbon monoxide detectors, temperature and humidity sensors, and smart nightlights. Each of these devices also features localized voice alerts and a low-frequency beep, which is said to be more effective at waking up deep sleepers and people with hearing loss.

• Any Place, reviewed here, is the simplest of the bunch. It detects smoke and carbon monoxide (CO), among other features listed above.
• The Kitchen model detects smoke and CO and also adds natural gas detection (but No propane, which is used in many rural homes).
• The Garage model is equipped with a CO detector, built-in camera and intercom, but replaces the smoke sensor with a heat sensor to avoid false alarms. It does not include air quality monitoring, but does detect and warn about the presence of VOCs.
• The Nursery model has most of the features of the four models, including a security camera, intercom, air quality and VOC (volatile organic compound) monitoring, and a white noise generator, as well as a smoke and CO detector.

Once again, the alarms on site must be connected to power and the two can be interconnected. Each of them receives backup power in the form of two pre-installed AA lithium batteries. The detectors are designed to last an industry standard of 10 years; Backup batteries may require periodic replacement during this time. The devices connect to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, and you can interact with them using the Place mobile app.

Installation and configuration

Christopher Nall / Foundry

As a wired product, you need to install the Place Any Space Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector where you have access to the main two-wire home wiring (no ground wire required); plus, connect the wiring if you plan to combine multiple Place alarms. Building codes vary by region, but National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in 1989 stated that newly built homes must have wired and interconnected smoke detectors on every level of the home and outside sleeping areas.

The alarm kit includes a small bracket and the bolts and nuts needed to mount the alarm to the electrical box. A small wire harness with a clamp connects your home's exposed wiring to the detector. In general, the physical installation is not at all onerous, unless your electrical box is overcrowded and/or difficult to access (as can happen when detectors are mounted on high ceilings).

Once connected to a power source, the Place app is used to connect the detector to your network. The app itself isn't easy to find (use the QR code in the manual to avoid having to navigate through thousands of apps named with some variations of “location”), but once installed it's easy to complete. The Bluetooth connection automatically detected my detector, after which I entered a few credentials to connect it to the Wi-Fi network. You will need to create an account (with a verified email address) to complete the process.

Using a Smart Smoke + CO Alarm in Any Space

Christopher Nall / Foundry

Because it lacks the bells and whistles of the more room-oriented smoke detectors that Place offers, Place Any Space works much like any other smart smoke detector. Testing with smoke canisters resulted in the alarm going off quickly, faster than I have ever experienced with any other smoke alarm that I can remember. The device features a particularly low-frequency siren, which Place says improves audibility for people with hearing loss. It's also very loud.

Although the device claims to have two levels of warning signals that the device goes through before the alarm sounds, I didn't encounter any in my testing because the alarm sounded so quickly. It took about 30 seconds for the push notification to be sent to my mobile phone, which seems very slow.

Disabling the alarm is a different story. Even after the smoke cleared, the alarm continued to sound, and it took several presses of the test button (which, oddly enough, is a touch button rather than a physical button) to silence the siren. The app can also be used to silence the alarm. However, even after the alarm was turned off, the device continued to periodically beep, supposedly indicating that there was still smoke in the room. This went on for several minutes until I eventually had to disable the alarm completely by unplugging it and removing the batteries.

Christopher Nall / Foundry

I'm not sure if this is the intended action of the alarm, but it was definitely maddening and different from any other smoke alarm I've looked at. Reminder: If someone presses the mute button or uses a feature in an app, silence should mean complete silence.

The app includes perhaps minimally useful measurements of temperature and humidity, and even tracks this data by day, week, and month. The night light feature (which can activate either when ambient light levels are low or when motion is detected) is a nice touch, and it can even be set to illuminate in the color of your choice. Beyond that, the motion detection feature isn't all that useful otherwise.

I found that a motion sensor placed in a high-traffic area sent dozens of alerts a day to my phone, but there was no context for these alerts and you couldn't do anything with them, and there wasn't even a way to set them to only activate during certain hours. In the absence of a broader security-focused environment, I was quickly overwhelmed by a barrage of unhelpful notifications.

Is it worth buying a Smart Smoke Alarm + CO Place Any Space?

With its universal smoke detectors for every room, Place seems to be hoping to position itself where its equipment becomes the centerpiece of your smart home. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this concept really works, since these devices simply don't do enough to deserve such responsibility.

They are also very, very expensive. The $139 Any Space (only available at Home Depot at the time of publication) is in the same range as the $130 unit. SC5 First Alertwhich connects directly to Google's powerful ecosystem. However, additional units in this series are incredibly expensive: $250 (Kitchen), $300 (Garage), and $350 (Kids). And remember that the “Kids” model contains a built-in camera – an idea that doesn't seem particularly smart to me, given concerns that visitors might feel like they're being spied on by a device with a hidden camera.

If you don't have any other smart home equipment, a Place smoke detector may make some sense. The concept for the room is interesting; but in its current incarnation (and price level) it doesn't perform all that well. Ultimately, I expect most users will be better off with simpler, less expensive devices, no matter what room they install them in. In other words: if you need a camera, get a camera.