Smart Security

Smart security sensors are small, inexpensive and each does one thing well.

Contact sensors on doors and windows report when one opens. The obvious use is security; the useful everyday one is knowing a door was left open, or that a garage or medicine cabinet was accessed.

Motion sensors trigger on movement — useful for alerts, and equally for automation, such as switching on a hall light at night.

Water leak sensors are the ones most worth owning and the ones people think of last. Placed under a washing machine, a sink or behind a boiler, they alert you to a leak within seconds. A leak found in minutes rather than days is the difference between a mopped floor and a ruined one.

Temperature and humidity monitors watch a nursery, a loft, a greenhouse or a room prone to damp.

Most of these are battery-powered and hub-based, which is why they run for a year or more. Check whether the sensors you want need a hub and budget for it — one hub then serves many sensors.

See cameras and smart home.