Launching a Smart Home Gas/CO Detector, Suggestions Needed

It's a bit spammy......

How will you get feedback if you don't show us what you want to flog?

? 2014?7?24????UTC+

team wants to do something to help prevent natural gas tragedies. I am crea ting a home-use smart gas and carbon monoxide detector.

ur mobile phone, and alerts you according to the level of danger. It is por table, so you can bring it anywhere to check for gas leaks. The detector al so has a sleek, modern design, so it will look good in any home.

ove it. Any questions or suggestions are appreciated.

Well...If I give too many details of this product, this post may be regarde d as an advertisement. Please check it out on our facebook

Any thoughts and opinions are appreciate. Thank you!

Looks like a thermostat.

An somewhat ugly copy of a modern thermostat, which in turn was inspired by a classic 1950s (?) Honeywell (?) thermostat design.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

I don't care how "smart" my carbon monoxide detector is - I just want it to be really good at reliably detecting the gas and sounding the alarm!

I second that. Reliability is most important, accuracy next, bells and whistles dead last.

Sorry - I think it's a really poor idea. We have smoke detectors at home and if they detect smoke they go beep, loudly. You are making a simple function complex for no benefit. How many people have died because they didn't notice the gas detector beeping ?

Far better spend money on several cheap and reliable simple gas detectors than one fancy one based on a hugely complex signal chain.

Michael Kellett

True. I have that problems after eating at the local Mexican food restaurant.

Fewer beans in the tostada will help.

Ummm... you might want to re-word that. Gas is not smart.

What are you going to do about the long gas detection response times? Depending on concentration, senor technology, and required power consumption, it can take up to maybe 30 minutes for the typical CO detector to respond. If you use a faster algorithm, you'll see falsing on cooking, wood burners, cleaning solutions, various aerosols, propane devices, and my cooking.

There's also the problem of detector lifetime. Few CO detectors last more than about 3-5 years. New laws in Calif require a 10 year non-replaceable battery for smoke alarms and CO detectors. I assume (i.e. not sure) that this would also apply to CO "monitors".

You haven't met the typical resident aesthetics authority. I'm currently living alone, so it's not currently a problem, but in the past, nothing electronic receive approval, except in my cave. Incidentally, sleek and modern usually mean something that looks aerodynamic, which is not very useful for wall mounted instruments. I suggest you look at various home weather stations for a clue as to what the GUM (great unwashed masses) considers acceptable in the home.

Buy some sensors: Set them for fastest response time so that you'll get all the false activations. Wire it to some kind of data logger and see what you get. Think about how and where you're going to sample the air. Save the smartphone apps, modern aesthetics, and pretty graphs for later.

Also, do some reading. Check for similar patents, read about explosive gas detection instruments (used by sewer inspectors etc), Google for similar devices, etc.

Good luck.

For CO detectors, there's UL standard 2034. Standard alarm times: At 70 PPM, the unit must alarm within 60-240 minutes. At 150 PPM, the unit must alarm within 10-50 minutes. At 400 PPM, the unit must alarm within 4-15 minutes. As the detector approaches EOL (end of life), these increase.

Two guys died in Truckee recently. Their gas furnace was mis-connected by a sloppy contractor. They turned on the heat remotely before they drove up, and the place was full of CO when they got there. No CO detectors.

I wonder if a CO detector will continue to screech for hours. Probably not if it's battery powered.

A direct rip off of the Nest thermostat, which was "inspired" buy the Honeywell. ;-)

I still don't know why I want a "smart" fire or CO alarm (I have nest thermostats but have no interest in their alarms).

I agree. The only advantage I can see is the networking (all alarms trip if one does). There are easier ways to do this, however.

Ouch.

During a power failure, one of my less brilliant neighbors decided to run their Honda E2000(?) portable generator inside their house to keep the fridge alive. Then, they left for work. They figured that it would turn itself off after it ran out of gasoline. After about an hour, the CO alarm went off. I'm about 200ft away and it was loud enough to ruin my concentration. I tried to call the neighbor at work, but no luck. I tried breaking in, but also no luck. After about 20 minutes, the duration of the beeps began getting shorter, and the spacing between the beeps started getting longer, probably in an effort to conserve power. After another 20 minutes, it sorta faded away and sputtered to a stop. Sorry, but no clue on battery condition, type of alarm, whether this is typical, etc.

I had to leave later, so I hung a large sign on both the front and back doors about the house being full of CO and to ventillate the house before entering. The owner got the clue, but his worthless dog did not. I saw through the window what was happening and ran towards the house just in time to see the dog halfway pass out. He survived with no ill effects. The house smelled like a garage for about a week.

Why would you want that? If one unit alarms, you know the opposite way to go? If all alarms, which way are you going?

Maybe some day smart phones will include air analyzers.

If the alarms go off, I know I want out. That's all I care about. You would prefer to sleep. To each...

I could see some advantage in having an SMS or pop-up notification if the CO levels were rising, as our dog, big and lovable as she is, appears to lack the opposable thumbs required to deal with an emergency.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Who would ever oppose to thumbs?

our team wants to do something to help prevent natural gas tragedies. I am creating a home-use smart gas and carbon monoxide detector.

your mobile phone, and alerts you according to the level of danger. It is portable, so you can bring it anywhere to check for gas leaks. The detector also has a sleek, modern design, so it will look good in any home.

improve it. Any questions or suggestions are appreciated.

regarded as an advertisement. Please check it out on our facebook

You silly google grouper fool. First all the gas detectors have finite lifetimes, usually not more that a few years. Decide how to deal with that first. Then study all the available detectors for each gas or vapor to be detected. Then study all the UL and FM standards and regulations for all the various detectors. Then you might know enough to ask an intelligent question. It is unlikely to be answered here then.

?-)

by a

up, and

not if

Gods, the schmart phone manufacturers will love you. Reduces battery life and has limited life itself, so that the function dies in a few years. Boost cell phone sales really nicely and require a new phone every few years anyway. Guaranteed obsolescence is better than designed obsolescence for manufacturers. Hell, the will make it regulatory mandatory just wait and you see.

?-)