I remember when the smoke detector was first on HN. Some people saying wave to disarm was a great feature and some were saying it was a terrible feature.
I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.
Maybe others have vaulted ceilings in huge mansions, but a standing on a chair has been enough for me. It's hardly a difficult task, and certainly easier than removing the battery or putting tape over the speaker which appeared to be the alternatives suggested above.
When a smoke detector starts falsely making noise in the middle of the night, you have to get out of bed, turn on a light, get a chair, or maybe a stepladder... and maybe that stepladder is on another level, so you have to carry it up a flight of stairs and try not to bang the walls... it's a huge irritation.
Similarly, when there's one in the kitchen and it goes off constantly every time you make toast, it's a major ongoing annoyance.
Many people will respond to these situations by removing the batteries, covering the speaker with tape, or other things that lessen the functionality of the device in the event of an actual emergency.
Therefore, a properly-functioning wave-to-disarm feature (and other irritation-mitigation mechanisms) are not just conveniences; they literally save lives.
Old smoke detectors had this feature. You just take the battery out. I have to do this to one of mine every time we use our broiler. I'm sure I'm not the only person who ever removed a battery an forgot to replace it for awhile. At least the nest feature is temporary.
My understanding is that it's temporarily disabled by the wave. Is that not the case? It's still an issue if a fire starts and you aren't alerted for 20 minutes but I'm curious.
> I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.
The scary feature is my current method of taking the battery out of the smoke detector. I have yet to understand how this "old feature" is better than nest's feature.