Professional’s Ranking
Professionals
- Identifies electrical issues earlier than they will trigger home fires
- Very straightforward to put in and configure
- Subscription service pays the primary $1,000 in restore prices (labor solely)
- Obtainable without spending a dime from some insurance coverage corporations
Cons
- Ongoing subscription prices $49 per 12 months
- Machine doesn’t emit any visible or audible warnings if it detects an issue
- Some houses will want multiple Ting, and every wants its personal subscription
Our Verdict
Ting warns you {of electrical} issues in your house that may trigger a fireplace if left unaddressed. Hopefully, the one time you’ll want to consider Ting post-installation is when the subscription comes up for renewal.
Value When Reviewed
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Greatest Pricing Right this moment
A working smoke detector will provide you with a warning to a fireplace that’s already began. Set up a Ting Sensor in your house and the subscription-based good plug will alert to any electrical faults with the potential to begin a fireplace lengthy earlier than one begins.
Specs
This smallish machine from Whisker Labs plugs into considered one of your private home’s AC retailers, the place it measures (30 million measurements per second) and analyzes voltage, on the lookout for the anomalies which can be attribute {of electrical} arcing, a sort of unsafe electrical discharge between conductors. And it’s essential that you just use a typical outlet, not a sensible plug, a surge protector, or an uninterruptible energy provide.
Ting delivers peace of thoughts: I do know I’ll be warned of a harmful electrical fault lengthy earlier than the issue can begin a fireplace.
The Ting sensor makes use of a Bluetooth connection for preliminary pairing with its app, and also you’ll then join the machine to your private home’s 2.4GHz Wi-Fi community.
Michael Brown/Foundry
To know arcing, contemplate lightning: The electrical energy in a cloud travels, or arcs, both to the bottom or to a different cloud. Within the residence, arcing may be attributable to an overloaded circuit, or faulty or broken electrical wires or parts (e.g., an outlet, a swap, and even the circuit-breaker panel itself). Arcing also can happen when electrical wiring or parts grow to be uncovered to water, corresponding to from a leaky pipe, a door or window, or the roof.
A Ting Sensor won’t solely detect arcing, however it may possibly additionally determine the supply of the arc: mild switches, retailers, plugged-in units, and so forth. If problematic arcing is detected, a member of Ting’s fire-prevention workforce will name you to assist isolate the hazard by instructing you to show off circuits at your breaker panel, one by one. As soon as the circuit with the issue has been recognized, Whisker Labs will organize for an electrician to be despatched to your private home to repair the issue. Ting subscriptions include $1,000 in labor credit score towards wanted repairs carried out by a licensed electrician.
The Ting app experiences the voltage on your private home’s electrical system in actual time and sends push notifications when points pop up.
Michael Brown/Foundry
The machine has an onboard 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter, and as soon as it’s related to your private home community and also you’ve put in the Ting app in your telephone, the machine will ship you notifications of any detected issues. The Ting may even monitor the electrical energy coming into your private home out of your native utility, reporting voltage in actual time, noting the peaks and valleys, and alerting you to service outages and after they’re restored.
An LED on the machine, beneath its brand, signifies its operational state. You’ll need to see a strong inexperienced, which signifies regular operation. Darkish blue signifies the Ting is in Bluetooth-pairing mode, blinking yellow means the machine is buying an IP handle; it turns strong yellow whereas checking for web connectivity. A blinking inexperienced LED means the sensor is connecting to a Ting server; cancel the Ting service and the LED will glow a strong crimson. Curiously, the Ting’s LED gained’t change shade to warn you of {an electrical} drawback; the machine doesn’t have a speaker to sound a warning, both.
Must you purchase a Ting?
Ting falls into that class of residence security that by no means proves its value till it prevents a catastrophe. In that respect, it’s rather a lot like a smoke or carbon monoxide detector. I’ve had two Tings put in for practically a 12 months and have largely forgotten they’re even right here. I haven’t had any electrical issues pop up, so the one time I obtain a notification from the Ting app is when there’s a utility outage.
Along with real-time reporting, Ting may even e-mail you a weekly voltage report. Your utility ought to be offering 120 volts, however it may possibly dip as little as 108 volts and peak as excessive as 132 volts with out damaging something plugged into your private home’s retailers.
Michael Brown/Foundry
Hopefully, I’ll by no means get a Ting alert that I must act on. However I just like the peace of thoughts that comes from realizing I’ll be warned earlier than a harmful electrical fault begins a fireplace.
Most houses will want only one Ting, which sells for $99, however in conditions the place there may be multiple electrical service panel—corresponding to an outbuilding or a room addition that has its personal panel—you’ll want one other Ting for every panel. That’s the scenario I’m in after having a indifferent studio in-built my yard. And sadly, every Ting wants its personal subscription, which prices $49 yearly after the primary 12 months. Before you purchase a Ting, you must verify with the corporate dealing with your owners’ insurance coverage to see if they supply the machine and repair as a part of your protection. Two of the most important corporations do: State Farm and Nationwide. You’ll discover extra listed on Ting’s web site.
