What Happens To Your Smart Device During A Power Outage ? What Happens To Your Smart Device During A Power Outage ?

What Happens To Your Smart Device During A Power Outage ?

During a power outage, what will happen to your smart home system? Any routines that required the internet or involves non-battery devices will not work. Local routines will work if you have a hub that processes data locally and has a backup battery. 

Smart Devices

Devices without batteries: What are some devices with no batteries? Smart bulbs, plugs, thermostats, etc. are normally connected directly to a power outlet. If there is a power outage, these devices will also be out. There are some exceptions, such as the Philips Hue Go, which comes with a backup battery.

Devices with batteries: motion sensors, climate sensors, smoke sensors, etc. normally have batteries. If they work independent of a hub, then they will still work. However, if they need to be connected to a smart hub to work through ZigBee/Z-wave then you will have to get a smart hub that has a backup battery and the ZigBee/Z-wave protocols.

Smart Cameras: These are unlikely to work unless they have a backup battery like some Arlo and Sense8 cameras. Remotely accessing them from your phone will stop working because of a lack of internet.

Smart Locks: Many smart locks use batteries and will continue to work. If the batteries are dead, you can replace them, or you can just manually lock/unlock them with a key. If your locks are connected to the hub (with backup battery), then the routines/rules will also work. For example, routines set up to lock the door when motion is detected.

Smart Hubs

Cloud-based hubs:  Amazon Echo and Google Home Hub will stop working. They don’t have a backup battery and they require the internet to work

Samsung SmartThings: The latest generation (3rd) does not have a backup battery, but the 2nd generation does.

Wink Hub 2:  No, no backup battery

Voice Assistants

Amazon Alexa: No. It’s cloud-based and the Amazon echo devices don’t have a backup battery

Google Assistant: No. It’s cloud-based and the Google Home devices don’t have a backup battery

Routines/Rules/Automation

Any routines that required the internet or involves non-battery devices will not work. Local routines will work if you have a hub that processes data locally and has a backup battery. However, if you have a routine that turns on your smart light switch (no battery), it will not work during a power outage.

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