TELUS | Nest Protect Review

How to Build a Smarter Home with TELUS!

Last updated on November 23rd, 2020 at 04:15 pm

There’s nothing sexy about smoke detectors—we put them in our homes and often forget about them until we cook smoky food without remembering to turn the exhaust fan on or start enjoying our fireplaces with the chimney closed. (That said, you should check your smoke detectors at least once a month to make sure that the batteries are fresh and that the detector can detect if you find yourself in a situation where mere seconds make all the difference.)

Smoke—and these days, carbon monoxide detectors—often play merely a background role in the life of a modern home, just something we expect to be there rather than tools to be kept up to date, ensuring we’re doing everything we can to take care of our homes.

But what if your home got ravaged by a fire tomorrow? Have you taken the necessary steps to protect the things you hold dear if the unexpected happens? Are your valuables in a fireproof safe and your files stored in another location should your computer get torched in the process? Do you have your possessions catalogued in an inventory and made sure you know what your home insurance covers? When it comes down to it, too many of us are woefully unprepared for the curveballs life’s all too ready to hurl at us, and we need to be smarter about the tools we keep around us if things go wrong.

And that oft-overlooked ancient smoke detector collecting dust on your ceiling’s an amazing way to start.

Building a Smarter Home with TELUS, Part One—The Things You Detect with a Nest Protect—Nest Protect Lifestyle Shot Daughter Safe and Sound

“In the 1970s, it would take almost 30 minutes for a fire to take over a room. Today, it can take less than 5.”

— Source: Underwriters Laboratories

It’s scary how quickly things can go wrong. In a quest to make things cheaper to manufacture and accessible to everyone through mass production, we’ve turned our homes into fire traps. The fires burn faster, the smoke’s more toxic, and the longer we continue relying on outdated technology to keep us safe, the more we leave ourselves open to calamity happening without a way to defend ourselves in time.

The second-generation Nest Protect is packed with features to give you a leg up against disaster, and if used in the right way, it can do far more than just detect smoke.

Building a Smarter Home with TELUS, Part One—The Things You Detect with a Nest Protect—Nest Protect White Mounted on Ceiling

The industrial-grade smoke detector is just part of everything the Nest Protect has to offer—if you’re one of the 90% who fail to check their smoke detectors monthly, imagine a smoke detector with a built-in microphone to quietly test its horn monthly at a time of your choosing, and you need to do little more than key your preferences in on the Nest App to make it happen. Or putting the days of an overly sensitive smoke detector far behind you, with one you can hush with a press on your phone instead of frantically waving at it with a dish towel until it gets the picture. In an age where our phones may as well be extra limbs, having devices like the Nest Protect connected to them doesn’t just make sense—soon enough, it’ll likely become the norm.

A recent study commissioned by TELUS found that smart home technologies are on the rise—while 61% of people believe that they’ll definitely benefit their lives, only 34% currently own a smart home device. But that gap’s looking to shrink—with 63% of people predicting they’ll own at least one smart home device by 2018 (with half that crowd thinking they’ll own three or more), the world around us will continue to morph to accommodate the possibilities that simply didn’t exist before smart home technologies began making their way into the mainstream.

Building a Smarter Home with TELUS, Part One—The Things You Detect with a Nest Protect—Nest AppThink of a smoke detector capable of telling you when things are awry at home, with every family member able to get alerts through their Nest Account no matter where they are? Or one that knows how to react based on how bright the fire is to know if it’s fast- or slow-burning? One that checks its batteries and sensors 400+ times a day; whose carbon monoxide sensor lasts a decade; can tell the difference between smoke and steam (for y’all who love your long showers); and will broadcast immediate evacuation steps to your phone in the case of an emergency so you can get your family out safely—and quickly.

It’s time for us to stop fixating on the smoke detectors we used to know and start looking to a future that’s a lot smarter.

So if you’re up to the challenge of making your home a tad more intelligent (and I’m pretty sure you are with 57% of people believing smart home tech will save them money, and 44% believing it to increase security and safety), this is a great way to do it!

The Nest Protect—A Great Way to Keep the Things You Care About Most Safe From Harm’s Way

Building a Smarter Home with TELUS, Part One—The Things You Detect with a Nest Protect—Nest Protect Lifestyle Shot Kids at PlayIt’s a brave new world out there.

With technology continuing to evolve, so do our expectations for what’s possible from our devices. Don’t be surprised to eventually see insurance companies giving reduced premiums for households linking security cameras to their smoke detectors that can automatically record video in the case of an emergency. Or if you suddenly find smart home devices integrated into your kids’ school curriculum, like advising them to get a thermostat that speaks to their smoke detectors, shutting off the heating system in the case of a fire so the smoke doesn’t spread further!

In a world where the challenges change faster than we can keep up, it’s the little tools like the Nest Protect that at least point us in the right direction.

If you want to see the Nest Protect for yourself up close and personal, feel free to check it out at one of TELUS‘ “Connected Experience” stores in the Cadillac Fairview Toronto Eaton Centre or Edmonton’s Southgate Centre. And if you don’t happen to live near, don’t worry—TELUS has more Connected Experience stores in the works, and they’ll be introducing their smart home portfolio to 50 retail locations across Canada this year!

All that said, I hope I’ve inspired you to think about the steps you can take to build a smarter home. With enough in our lives that’s utterly irreplaceable, it’s worth the investment to make sure we protect the things we care about—before we regret not having done so sooner.

Hope to see you on the right side of the smart home revolution!

Until the next, I remain,

–case p.


Disclaimer: As compensation for this post, TELUS sent over a battery-powered Nest Protect to review and see how it could make our home a little smarter! But since we need a wired version to replace our current system, I decided to pass the device on to you—but believe you me, when we move to our forever home, I’m installing these suckers all over the place!

By Casey E. Palmer

Husband. Father. Storyteller.

Calling the Great White North his home, Casey Palmer the Canadian Dad spend his free time in pursuit of the greatest content possible.

Thousand-word blog posts? Snapshots from life? Sketches and podcasts and more—he's more than just a dad blogger; he's working to change what's expected of the parenting creators of the world.

It's about so much more than just our kids.

When Casey's not creating, he's busy parenting, adventuring, trying to be a good husband and making the most of his life!

Casey lives in Toronto, Ontario.

86 replies on “TELUS | Nest Protect Review”

The biggest thing I could (and really should) do is swap out the builder installed, hard wired only smoke detectors in my house. No batteries, no bueno if the power goes out.

We’re currently renting a brand new home. The builder has installed smoke detectors on each floor. We will be moving into our own home within the next year and will ensure that there are smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on all floors.

We need a carbon monoxide detector. Plus need to replace our front door and the glass beside it, I worry someone could break it easily to get in! new door and a good lock!

One thing I could improve would be practicing a fire exit plan with our almost 3 year old. It hasn’t been something I’ve given much thought to it yet but now that we have a new baby in the house I think it is something we need to get her familiar with!

I would have a better fire plan and have a couple more smoke detectors , i check the batteries every 6 months 🙂 thanks for the chance 🙂

I need more fire extinguishers, right now I have 1 in the kitchen but want one near the pellet stove and at least one on the 2nd floor.

I have a fire extinguisher and they have to be checked regularly. Also check the batteries in smoke alarms and CO2 detectors regularly too.

I need to do do more off-site computer back ups and I definitely need get a fire proof safe for a few precious and important items.

I asked my hubby just this past weekend how to properly use the fire extinguishers. I am not sure how to work them!

I need to check and or replace my current fire extinguishers. I would also like to upgrade my smoke alarms. Thank you for bringing up an important topic! It’s now on my to-do list! Awesome post and giveaway! Good luck all 🙂

We have to make an escape plan with our kids in case of a fire. Also keep our smoke detector batteries fresh and new.

I would like to buy a fire proof safe for all of our important documents. With two wood stoves, there is always a risk of a chimney fire (although we are diligent about cleaning it). We could also have a fire extinguisher on both floors, instead of just in the basement.

I need to go over our fire escape plan more often with the kids. We moved in July to our new home and they still aren’t very familiar with our fire escape plan in our home. Also testing the fire/smoke detectors periodically between battery changes is a great way to stay safer in our home.

We should really come up with a fire escape plan to improve our safety, putting in some new detectors might be a good plan too.

I need to test smokes alarms more often. alos I need to clean out my dryer vent, haven’t done that yet this spring.

This year things are dry all over the place with lots of grass fires happening, so we’re going to plough a firebreak around the house and out buildings and have lots of covered barrels of waters around. Can’t be too save especially if there’s an old creosote soake railway trestle bridge around!

Check batteries every year. Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity. 🙂

We do have 3 smoke detectors but only one very old fire extinguisher. The old one needs replacing and an additional one for the other floor of our house would be good.

I really should place a smoke detector in our basement. There is so much electrical in the basement yet I rarely go downstairs.

I should probably keep a fire extinguisher in my kitchen and also practice a fire drill and exit strategy with the kiddos. We have done the latter in the past, but its been a few years.

Reviewing our fire escape plan with the kids more often would be something I could improve, otherwise, my husband, being a previous fireman, has everything handled pretty well.

I need to check my batteries more often. I also want to make sure I review our family fire safety plan yearly.

I should buy a carbon monoxide detector and check the batteries on my smoke detectors.

I can always make sure batteries are changed at time change and that there is always an open path to escape from bedroom windows

Our family should have an emergency fire ladder upstairs in case of fire on the main level because it would be a long way down to jump.

Good locks for the doors, fire extinguisher ready and make sure the smoke detector is fully charged

make sure there is fresh batteries and working condition in all alarms as well as backups always on hand

I’m going to replace the batteries in the smoke alarm & find the fire extinguisher! I know I bought one!!

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