Got Pests? Smart Home Technology to the Rescue!
March 6, 2022
Without a doubt the thing that I’ve grown to love about smart home technology is the way it makes our lives better — automations, alerts, efficiencies and more. There are literally hundreds of examples of how smart home has taken even already good solutions and made them better. But what about applying smart home thinking to age old problems that may not necessarily align with traditional home technologies? Like ridding homeowners of bothersome pests or inventing the proverbial ‘better mousetrap.’
Well, that time has come. And the ‘better mousetrap’ may have been invented thanks to smart home thinking.
Meet the Thermacell LIV. For years, Thermacell has made effective mosquito repellent solutions, but the same designs that make them so good for camping make them less suitable for home/yard protection. Thermacell’s portable heat-activated mosquito repellers are a godsend for campers, hikers and picnickers. For the first time in the company’s 22-year history, Thermacell is introducing a Wifi-connected solution that can protect an entire outdoor living space from mosquitoes.
As a side bar, I’m curious if these will also work against flies. As you can imagine, with Debbie and I living in livestock country they are a nuisance. And as we spend a considerable amount of time at our Daughter-in-Law’s horse ranch — River Falls Equestrian Center– where she boards dozens of horses and trains horses and riders, the flies can get ‘thick.’ This may be a great test case and even if it doesn’t get rid of flies it will still work on the mosquitoes. Yeah, we have those too.
The Thermacell LIV is a permanently installed system that connects to your home’s Wifi network (2.4GHz only) and creates overlapping zones of protection. The system consists of an app-controlled hub that plugs into an outdoor electrical outlet to provide on-demand convenience and repeller units that you’ll hardwire to the hub using the low-voltage wiring (provided in the kits). The system can be installed as a DIY project, or you can hire a professional to do the job (type your zip code in at Thermacell’s website to be referred to a local installer). Thermacell has been accepting pre-orders for this product since August 2021 but live orders are being accepted now. And there’s a 100-day risk free trial.
The repellers resemble landscape lighting fixtures or outdoor pedestal speakers and are fabricated from die-cast aluminum. They can be staked into a lawn or flowerbed, or you can purchase optional bases ($18 each) for installation on hard surfaces, such as a concrete patio or a wooden deck.
Each repeller establishes a 20-foot zone of protection (i.e., a 10-foot radius from the repeller). A kit with the hub and three repellers is rated to cover 945 square feet and sells for $699. If you have a larger yard, a 5-repeller kit capable of treating 1,600 square feet is available for $899. Beyond simply turning the system on and off, the app also provides voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, repellent level monitoring (each pod lasts for around 40 hours), and scheduling.
When you use the LIV app on your mobile device to turn the system on, the repellers heat and vaporize a chemical repellent, metofluthrin, that deters mosquitos from hanging around the area. You can turn on the system once you’re outside, because the repellent is effective within 10 minutes of dispersal.
Thermacell describes metofluthrin as a “synthetic molecule inspired by a naturally occurring chemical” and says the chemical is EPA-registered for use around children and food-prep areas. It’s also safe for pets.
The metofluthrin is contained in cartridges that you install in each repeller. Each cartridge is expected to last 40 hours, so you’ll need to replenish the cartridges depending on how much time you spend outdoors. Replacement cartridges are priced at $120 for a 6-pack of 40-hour refills.
If getting rid of mosquitoes isn’t enough, let’s take a look at that ‘better mousetrap.’ This is another pest control product that makes me think of my Daughter-in-Law and her equestrian center. As she stores a lot of feed (and I mean a LOT) it attracts mice. Mice attract snakes and other predators that are just not very welcome around paddocks and horse stables. So solving one problem takes care of another.
This brings us to the Victor Smart-Kill Electronic Mousetrap. This is also Wifi-connected and app enabled to drive notifications to your phone when there’s a mouse in the trap — a huge time saver so you don’t have to make a daily trek to check the traps. This convenience is worth the price alone whether you’re putting them around your home or a horse ranch.
Unlike a standard mechanical, spring-loaded mousetrap, Victor’s modern mouse trap has two metal contact plates near the bait trap. When a mouse enters the trap and touches both plates it creates a sort of ‘electric chair.’ Four AA batteries deliver an electronic shock, which, while isn’t pleasant, is a more humane way to end a mouse’s life than the more traditional ways. Thanks to an integrated Wifi radio (2.4 GHz only), the Victor app notifies your phone so you can dispose of the mouse.
To do make all this work in a way that’s simple and safe for humans, the trap is made of two plastic segments. One houses the batteries and wireless radio. The other is a roughly 7” ‘chute’ with the metal plates and bait area at one end.
As a mouse enters this chute, there are angled, plastic walls to keep the rodent from easily backing out. From a safety perspective, there’s a switch to enable the zapping power only when the two case parts are assembled together.
The setup process for Victor’s smart phone app is easy as well. If you’ve set up an Echo Dot, you can set up this electronic mouse trap. Simply holding down the trap’s Wifi button begins the process by creating a peer-to-peer wireless network. The app shows a full history of any mouse incursions and the number of ‘kills’ atop the history.
This is effectively a standalone smart home product, meaning you can’t have your digital assistant alert you when the trap is tripped. Sadly, there’s no way to integrate the trap with any platform or automations at this time. Perhaps that comes in future versions.
There are potential concerns with the battery life of four AA batteries in a Wifi device. Running through batteries every month could get expensive. This will be dependent on how many mice enter the trap, as the shocks will hit the batteries over time. Victor says a fresh set of batteries will last for up to 100 kills.
This is a great first shot at the ‘better mousetrap’ but also a perfect device to use a much lower-powered radio technology in a future product. Probably Thread, and not just for the power efficiency, but also for the mesh network capabilities Thread brings.
Like Zigbee, Thread is a self-healing mesh networking protocol, meaning all of the devices on a single mesh can speak to each other. Since every Thread device can connect to other Thread devices, you can get much more coverage between devices. One trap on a Wifi network is fine but what if you have to deploy traps in multiple locations that might not have a good Wifi signal? Like a horse ranch? Victor does make a LoRaWAN mousetrap, for larger areas.
Aside from the connectivity and battery replacement concerns, I like this product and reviews suggests it’s effective. At $40 each they’re not exactly cheap but considering the efficiencies they bring they’re worth trying out at the equestrian center.
Obviously these are a little off-beat smart home devices but nonetheless solve problems through some fairy common technology and easy to use. These may not be for you for the simple fact that you don’t have issues with mosquitoes or mice but you have to admit it’s great to see challenges like these being addressed. I mean, after all, do we really need another video doorbell or connected thermostat?
For my smart home enthusiast friends from Minnesota to Florida I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Thermacell LIV. Do you have any type of mosquito solution for your backyard entertaining? Would you consider the Thermacell LIV? What about the Victor Smart-Kill Electronic Mousetrap? For my family and friends with basements, especially with Wifi coverage, what is your current rodent solution? Would you consider Victor’s smart mousetrap?
Let Debbie and I know in the comments, DMs and emails as we really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again to all those following Debbie and I through our home building journey. It’s great to hear your success stories and suggestions as we move through the process. And if you like the content I’m posting each week, don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Follow.’ Until next week …
In full disclosure, I’m not an affiliate marketer with links to any online retailer on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn nothing from the retailer. The links are strictly a convenience for my readers.
