The First Alert SC5 Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm is one of the few smart safety devices we actively recommend for short-term rentals. Its biggest advantage isn’t automation — it’s visibility. If smoke or carbon monoxide is detected while you’re away from the property, the First Alert app can notify you remotely.
First Alert designed the SC5 as the successor to Google Nest Protect, and it can work alongside compatible existing Nest Protect alarms. It is available in both hardwired and battery-powered versions, with the hardwired model providing battery backup and the battery model using six replaceable CR123A lithium batteries.
For rental properties, we prefer the hardwired version where local code and existing wiring support it. The battery-powered model is easier to install, but needing six CR123A batteries makes long-term maintenance more cumbersome than the AA batteries used in the older Nest Protect.
The SC5 also includes voice alerts, Heads-Up warnings, app-based testing and status checks, wireless interconnection with compatible alarms, and First Alert’s Precision Detection technology designed to reduce nuisance alarms. Those are all useful features in a rental where false alarms and remote troubleshooting can quickly turn into guest-support issues.
