After writing about fire safety and smoke detectors for a few years, I’ve really upped the fire safety and protections around my home. We have fire extinguishers and fire blankets on both floors and in the shop, both types of smoke detectors along with carbon monoxide detectors, and an emergency escape plan that we go over regularly as a family. That’s why I jumped at the chance to test Ting from Whisker Labs.
Ting is a device that plugs into an outlet and monitors the home for electrical fire hazards. It connects to an app and alerts you to any power outages and hazards and prevents four out of five electrical fires.
Ting Sensor
Specifications
- Unit price: $99.
- Subscription price: $49/year; first year free.
- Voltage: 120VAC.
- Frequency: 60Hz.
- Dimensions: 3.96 x 2.51 x 1.34.
- Weight: 5 oz.
What Is Ting?
Pros
- Detects early signs of electrical fire hazards
- 24/7 monitoring
- One sensor is enough for most homes
- Free Ting Fire Prevention Service for the first year
- Includes mobile app for monitoring and alerts
- $1,000 credit for labor related to a Ting-identified hazard
Cons
- Ting Fire Prevention Service is required for use and is $49/year after the first year
- Multiple sensors may be needed if your home has more than one main electric breaker panel
Ting is a sensor that plugs into any outlet and detects early warning signs of electrical fires. This includes micro-arcs and sparks from faulty wires, loose connections, and malfunctioning devices. It also monitors power coming into the home and identifies power outages within the home. Because so much of a home’s wiring is behind walls and in ceilings, it’s almost impossible to detect a small issue before it becomes a big one, which is where Ting comes in.
How to Set Up a Ting Sensor
Setting up the Ting sensor is incredibly easy. First, install the Ting app and click “Set up Ting Sensor” in the menu. The app walks you through the step-by-step process to connect the Ting to the WiFi. The process takes about two minutes, and you’ll need to know your WiFi password. As soon as it’s set up, it will begin monitoring your home for electrical arching.
Benefits of Installing Ting
Ting sees the unseen. The device detects electrical arcing signals which are early warning signs of electrical fires. This 24/7 monitoring allows you to fix issues before they turn into a fire, protecting your home and family.
It doesn’t include any other monitoring systems like cameras or microphones, which means it’s not recording video or sound or anything else that could compromise your home’s privacy. All it does is monitor the electrical signals.
What Makes Ting Amazing
Whisker Labs, the makers of Ting, actually constructed an entire home wiring system in their lab where they simulate issues and test Ting daily.
It takes 30 million arcing measurements per second. Electrical arcing is a series of tiny sparks which makes electricity go where it’s not supposed to. Ting identifies this arcing early, before it can become a fire. When Ting alerts you to an arcing event, you have time to contact an electrician to come to your home, identify the problem, and then fix the issue.
If Ting identifies a problem, the Ting team is on-hand to guide you through fixing it. Ting even covers up to $1,000 of the cost to have a professional repair the issue it identified.
It Comes with an App to Help Monitor
Ting has a companion app that shows Voltage usage, Power Outages, News, and Notifications. It sends alerts for power outages, power restoration, and power brownouts.
This is a really niche pro, but I really like that the app is yellow. I don’t have a lot of yellow apps on my phone, so when I need to check the app, it’s easy to spot amidst tons of other icons.
How Do You Know If Ting Is Working
The Ting Sensor has a green light on the front of the device to indicate that it’s working. On my end, it didn’t flag any issues, so I assume that there aren’t any in my home. Beyond that, unfortunately, the only way to be sure it’s working is for it to detect an issue — which you don’t actually want.
It does detect power outages within our home and in surrounding areas. It’s nice to know if the power went out overnight or if areas nearby are experiencing outages.
Ting Sensor
In My Expert Opinion
If you want to protect your home from potential fire hazards, then this device is worth it. I actually talked with a friend who has one in her home as well and appreciates the outage alerts and peace of mind that comes with knowing it’s monitoring the home for electrical hazards. Like I said, the only way to actually know that it’s doing what it’s supposed to do is for it to detect an issue, which we don’t want. So, for now, I’m very happy knowing that it’s always on alert in case an issue comes up.
