OCD or not, chances are pretty good that you’ve been sitting at work before and wondered “did I turn the coffeemaker off before I left this morning?” or “the back door was locked… right?” and, if you’re a neurotic nut like some of us, you may very well have finally uncoupled from your desk to run home and double check just to be sure the whole place didn’t come crumbling down in your absence. It’s frustrating, an annoying way to start the day, and now totally under control.
With the Home Heartbeat™ wireless sensors you can “check the pulse” of your home from a keychain-sized controller or even your cell phone. There are no long-term contracts with monitoring companies, no need for a tech charging $90/hr to come in and install, and, provided you’ve got a solid head on your shoulders, is a system you can install and modify yourself to keep an eye on your house or apartment while you’re out in the world.
Every Home Heartbeat system starts with three basic components: the Base Station, Home Key device, and sensors. The Base Station acts like a wireless relay, taking information from the sensors and reporting it back to the Home Key device, or to your cell phone via text messaging for when you’re outside of the home. There’s also a broadband gateway package that will let you check your home’s status from a secured webpage.
The Home Key is a control panel for the sensors and lets you use pre-programmed commands to set up and control all of the sensors in your house. The sensors are as varied as your needs — the starter pack comes with a normal open/closed door sensor, but their expansion packs allow for all sorts of monitoring, including water valve shutoffs, water sensors, garage door and motion sensors, power, attention, and even reminder sensors.
As you start flipping through the available applications, you can’t help but start wondering if this isn’t the first affordable step to “the smart home of the future” without having to be some multibillionaire kook. The starter pack is available from the product site for $224.95, along with all of the extended options for customized monitoring.
