Hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, tornadoes, blizzards and ice storms — severe weather is a part of life in America today, no matter where you live. Help protect your biggest investment from damage during and after a severe weather event with technology that can act as your eyes and ears. Today’s smart sensors can help you stay safely out of harm’s way while keeping an eye on what’s going on in your home.
A sensor is a small, battery-powered device that connects either to WiFi or a hub-based smart home system and sends information to you through alerts like text messages and push notifications. They are inexpensive, easy to install, simple to maintain, and they could save you a lot of hassle (and money). Here are five sensors to consider that will allow you to mitigate flooding and other potential damage due to severe weather.
Leak/Water Sensors
Whether it’s flood-waters rising, rain intruding, or pipes freezing and breaking, water can cause catastrophic damage to your home. Install leak detectors in strategic spots around your home — near the water heater, dishwasher, refrigerator, and sinks. If flooding is an issue in your area, also place some near doors on lower floors and in basements, where rising waters might intrude.
A leak sensor can connect to a home’s WiFi or a smart home system. When it detects water or moisture, it sends an alert to your mobile device so you can know there’s a problem before it gets out of control.
Door/Window Sensors
These excellent security devices — also known as contact sensors — alert you any time a door or window is opened. When facing severe weather, install a contact sensor that measures vibration, so you’ll know if your doors or windows have been damaged during the storm. They can detect a window breaking or a door banging open.
Most contact sensors connect to the Internet through a smart home hub. There are now some available that work just with WiFi, but these require bigger batteries and more maintenance than the hub-based sensors.
Garage Door Sensor
Strong winds are notorious for ripping open garage doors. Know if your garage is secure with a tilt sensor. Wired or wireless, these small sensors attach to your garage door and tell you if the door is up or down.
Most tilt sensors need to pair with a smart home system to work and to receive notifications on your phone of the door’s status. Another option is to install a smart garage door controller. These connect directly to your home’s WiFi and come with a tilt sensor. They can tell you the status of your door from anywhere, and they also allow you to remotely control the door from your mobile device.
Temperature Sensors/Smart Thermostat
Sudden swings in temperature can cause havoc in a home, a smart thermostat can notify you if the climate in your home has dropped below, or risen above, safe levels — alerting you at a glance to potential issues.
Replace your typical thermostats with these smart devices, and they can help you discover if your home is getting too hot or too cold. It could also alert you to a larger issue, such as a door or window that’s been blown open or if there’s been damage to your HVAC system.
Smoke/CO Detector
One of the biggest dangers during any severe weather event is the outbreak of fire. Broken gas lines, damaged appliances, and stray electrical wires can all spark a fire in seconds. Install a smart smoke alarm as the simplest, most effective way to protect your home from the catastrophic damage flames can cause. These devices will not only alert you if you’re in the home to smoke, flames or carbon monoxide, but they also send you notifications over WiFi to your smartphone wherever you are.
An important factor to keep in mind with all these devices is that they need an Internet connection to alert you if you aren’t nearby. It’s crucial to have a backup plan to keep your system running. You can install an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) on your Internet router and smart home hub to add precious hours of backup power to your home’s systems if the power goes out.
With these smart sensors installed in your home, you can have some peace of mind that your home is safe if severe weather does threaten, whether you stay or go.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy is a freelance writer and editor covering the intersection of sustainability and technology for Xfinity Home. She writes about the smart home, mobile phone technology, consumer tech, small businesses, and green living for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and online publications.
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