Are the Place - Any Space alarms “plug and play” replacements for the Nest Protect?
We’ve been in our home 8 years, but all my Nest Protects are expiring…thought I had 2 more years!
The Place smoke/co detectors look like a decent replacement. My question is - are they an easy install as a replacement? Hoping they are “plug and play” connection so with no rewiring required.
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u/tsr6 2d ago
The AnySpace alarms are easy to install.
After you take down the Nest detector, you also have to remove your Nest mounting ring (the part that screws to your electrical box in the ceiling). The AnyPlace detector has it's own mounting ring - two screws and you're good.
It does use different wiring connections than the Nest detector. The Nest Detector is a 2-wire setup, and has it's own proprietary plug. The AnyPlace detector supports both 2 or 3wire systems. In this case, you remove your Nest wiring pigtail by removing the wiring nuts, and install the AnyPlace detector's pigtail.
It took me all of maybe 5 minutes to swap mine out. The Place app walks you through the install process.
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u/getchpdx 2d ago
I do not like my place devices, constant false alerts and the audio alerts are way worse then the SC5 and Protect.
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u/easyasabd 2d ago
Can you elaborate on how the audio alerts are worse than SC05? I’m on the fence between these right now.
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u/getchpdx 2d ago
Verbal alerts only go in the room/system that is detecting. So if your basement is on fire, only the one in the basement will say "Smoke Detected", every other unit simply just does the horns. No room location or what the problem is essentially rendering the verbal thing useless.
I learned this when an alarm, not in my room, went off at 3am for no reason and couldn't figure out which one was going off or causing the issue. Similarly it happened again when the one in the fucking basement did the same thing except wouldn't stop going off over and over so I had to root it out and eventually heard it yelling Smoke Detected when I went down there.
Very dumb, almost the exact opposite of how I want it. Talked to support and they apparently don't have that and don't have plans for it currently (likely because the doctors reply on the hardwired interlink and not their own network like Protect so they can't convey information to each other other than if they're in alarm or not is my guess)
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u/easyasabd 2d ago
Do you know if the SC05 alert in the same way as Nest?
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u/getchpdx 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes, it does, and heads up actually works still. All in all the SC5 provides a very similar amount of function to the protect outside of the nightlight. The place provides a nightlight but does not integrate, does not have verbal alarms or heads up, and ime has a high defect rate (4 device replacements out of 8 alarms). You get some other features like a temperature read from place but since it's not integrated with anything you can't do anything with the data except observe it, in the Place app.
Heads up ("Caution") on Place devices does not provide an auditory alert, it only flashes a very soft light on the device itself so unless you spend time staring at the alarm that entire feature is not useful.
All together though the most important part of a fire alarm is the alarm part though. The sc5 gives clear alarms, reasons, and locations both verbally and visually, place does not.
Place gives you extra features like Temperature Readings, Nightlight, and Humidity Readouts but does not integrate with anything (so that data is useless for actions) and fails horribly on the way it alarms with no info or location and heads-up/caution is entirely useless.
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u/easyasabd 2d ago
Thanks! I’m just really hesitant on the SC05 with the huge number of reports of people getting false alarms. But if you’re getting the same on Place, it’s really sad there doesn’t seem to be a great option out there.
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u/getchpdx 2d ago
Other people say it's fine but I'm sure there are people with the SC5 who are happy they probably just don't post. There is also Xscence who I'm looking at. They don't do path lights but their vocal alarm supposedly is like protect "fire in the main bedroom" on ALL alarms (like protect and the SC5) but i did read a review that said they had a high fault rate so who knows
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u/smokey-schmeo 2d ago
Wouldn't the app have told you exactly which alarm was going off?
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u/getchpdx 2d ago edited 2d ago
App/device doesn't connect to anything to make the alarms more noticeable/shared, lags well behind the actual state of the alarm, and doesn't offer shared accounts. Give my goal is anyone in the house gets the same info at the same time, as I travel a lot, it's a huge fail.
Also I don't know if you ever awoke to a smoke filled room or area but the first instinct isn't "let me open apps on my phone". They didn't even setup the alerts to push with a high priority comes in like a weather alert. :/
If I wake up at 3am to an alarm I want to know what the issue is now not start an investigation, that's the whole point of verbal alerts and other brands seem to get that.
Also it's dumb that a battery powered device disconnects from the WiFi if it loses power, the protects did not and could still notify you remotely regardless of a recent power outage if you otherwise had WiFi (we have backup power for something, the Internet is one)
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u/smokey-schmeo 2d ago
I get the desire for an easy swap, but it takes about 5 minutes to switch out the mounting bracket and to redo the wirenuts.
You'd need to flip the breaker regardless of what replacement you pick, so the only difference is the mounting bracket and the wire harness. If you can work a screw driver for 2 screws, and can twist 3 wire nuts, then you can do the replacement.
The SC5 and other alternatives don't have the path light, or a bunch of the extra features of Place
When I think about 10 years of stubbed toes at 2am trying to empty the tank without a path light, 2 screws and 3 wires nuts for a one time install doesn't seem so bad.
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u/bigblue20072011 2d ago
I imagine you just remove the old mount and use the place any mount. Then you will have to uncap the interconnect wire (turn off the power) add the interconnect adapter and connect it. Keep in mind that the interconnected doesn’t work as well if the brand of smoke detectors doesn’t match.