If you’ve been around a while, you might remember that I’m kinda passionate about emergency preparedness. Don’t worry, I’m not a Doomsdayer worried about a Zombie Apocalypse, but when you have a child with medical needs and a prescription medication that is life saving, you think about things like having enough meds on back up if ever there were a major catastrophe. And when you start thinking about having enough pills in case The Big One ever hits California and levels your local Rite Aid, it sends you down a rabbit trail of…okay, how about water? Food? First Aid Supplies? Is our home fire safe? Do the kids know what to do? Where to meet? It’s not a bad rabbit trail to follow, really. A couple of years ago I did a whole series on Safety Preparedness in case you feel overwhelmed by the topic.
And while I like to consider myself mostly non-neurotic, there is a measure of relief in knowing that IF the zombies ever came out in droves, we’d have a fighting chance.
In honor of June being Home Safety Month, and knowing that I get kinda excited about these sorts of things, Kidde (a brand I have had the pleasure of working with on several occasions) asked if I would try out and share about their latest techy toy, the Remote Lync.
So, it’s not all that fancy or exciting or even high tech looking. Just a simple plastic box with a speaker on the front and a plugger thingy in the back. But hang in there. I promise it’s worth learning about.
Simply plug in the unit – which will listen for any UL listed smoke or CO alarm that you currently have installed in your home. If it hears an alarm, it will send (you or key contacts that you define) a message on your smart phone, tablet or PC (using your home Wi-Fi Router) alerting you to the alarm and a potential concern. It uses patented technology to distinguish smoke and CO alarm warnings from background noise, reducing potential nuisance alerts. When triggered, the monitor sends an alert to the homeowner and anyone who has been designated to receive automatic messages. Once the homeowner receives the alert, there is an option to call 911 directly, temporarily hush the warning, or call a contact in their network. ( <— I copy/pasted that. I couldn’t really say it any better, you know?)
So, why do you need this? Oh, let. Me. Tell. You.
1) Vacation. You’re off on vacation, and no one’s home? The RemoteLync will text your phone and let you know as soon as your house alarms detect a problem. No need to wait until flames are shooting out of your windows for the neighbors to notice.
2) Got a vacation home? Do you have a home that isn’t frequently used? Same idea. Ease of mind knowing that you’ll be notified of a potential issue within seconds instead of relying on someone else to notice when the damage is much worse.
3) Pets. Do you have pets home while you’re off at work or out of town? Now you can let a neighbor or even the local Fire Department know that you have a dog inside the home and no way to get out on their own. (We had this sorta happen to us once. A neighbor decided to burn weeds…in a drought…in a suburban neighborhood…while we were hundreds of miles away. Another neighbor texted me and I was able to ask her to please get the dog in case the fire headed down our hill.)
4) Kids home alone? Peace of mind knowing that you’ll be alerted instantly and can head home instead of wandering the aisles of Target non-chalantly while there is an emergency and your teen is busy tweeting the chaos instead of calling you. #ourhouseisonfire #mymomisbuyingstuffshedoesntneedfromthedollarspot
5) Live in a rural area? Is your nearest neighbor 5 miles away? Alarms blaring and smoke billowing might be at the mercy of when you finally get home from work or vacation. No bueno.
6) It might just save your life. You know all those videos and studies you read where people (kids in particular) manage to sleep right through the high pitched wailing of a smoke alarm? (I can say from experience that my alarms have gone off randomly in the middle of the night and my kids slept right through them.) Most of us are much more attuned to our cell phones dinging and will actually wake up quicker for that. This is especially true of teenagers. They’ll sleep through a freight train crashing through their window, but a new text message beep will rouse them in a millisecond. I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS COULD BE FOR YOUR FAMILY.
The RemoteLync is mainly marketed for when you’re not home, but honestly, I think point 6 is the most brilliant part of it. It’s really terrifying to see how easy it is for people to sleep through the alarms.
Pretty cool, right? Told you.
The RemoteLync is available at Home Depot and can also be purchased through Amazon.
And even better? I get to give one away to a lucky reader!
Just follow the rafflecopter prompts below and I’ll select a winner on July 5.
*Disclosure: I was provided with a free RemoteLync to review. All opinions are my own and I really am oddly in love with this little gadget.
Latest posts by jeannett (see all)
- Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
- Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
- How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015
I also have a medically handicapped child and am always thinking about preparedness. This looks amazing! What a clever idea.