Roost launched its first pair of smart smoke detectors following the CES 2016 launch of the Roost Smart Battery, which turns existing smoke alarms into smart alarms.
The $79-suggested RSA-400 detects smoke, fire, carbon monoxide and natural gas, and the $59-suggested RSA-200 detects smoke and fire. Both are 120-volt hard-wired alarms packaged with a Roost 9-volt Smart Battery back-up.
The Smart Battery combines a back-up battery with Wi-Fi. It was selected as a CES 2016 Innovation Awards honoree in the Smart Home product category.
The alarms send notifications via a home’s Wi-Fi network to a user’s smartphone even if the user is away from home. They also eliminate low-battery alarm “chirps” by notifying consumers’ phones that they need to replace the Roost Smart Battery with a $14.99 snap-in replacement. The Smart Battery’s life span is estimated at five years.
Consumers who buy a Smart Battery for previously installed dumb detectors pay $34 for the first battery and $14.99 for a replacement.
To develop the detectors, Roost partnered with smoke-alarm manufacturer Universal Security Instruments. The products incorporate USI’s patented Universal Sensing Technology, said to significantly reduce the occurrence of nuisance alarms and more effectively detect slow-smoldering and fast-flaming fire.
Both alarms are available for pre-order at GetRoost.com and are expected to ship in June. They will be rolled out later through online retailers and traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.
The Roost Smart Battery is available at the company’s website as well as through Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com and more than 200 Home Depot brick-and-mortar locations across the U.S.
