Prevent false alarms

In some cases, dust in Protect's smoke chamber or steam can trigger a false alarm.

Here are signs that dust may have made it into the smoke chamber:

• Nest Protect sounds an Emergency Alarm saying there’s smoke, even though there isn’t any smoke.
• The app says “There is a problem with the smoke sensor.”
• Nest Protect chirps continuously (one chirp per minute).
• Protect will have a yellow light ring during Nightly Promise. It will also sound a Heads-Up alert that says “Heads-Up. The sensors have failed in the [name of room]. Replace Nest Protect now." 
• When you press Nest Protect’s button, the light ring will turn yellow and Nest Protect will tell you that the sensors have failed.

Clean your Protect

All photoelectric smoke alarms can be impacted by dust. Nest Protect constantly monitors its sensors to ensure that they’re working properly. If dust interferes with the smoke sensor, Protect can let you know. But, it’s still important to keep your Protect clean and working properly.

For detailed cleaning instructions, refer to How to keep your Nest products clean.

Move Protect away from sources of steam

Steam can also trigger false alarms in many smoke alarms. Common household sources of steam include showers and humidifiers. So if you’ve experienced a false alarm and your Nest Protect is placed near a source of steam, this may be the cause.

To help lower the number of false alarms caused by steam, you can turn on Steam Check with the app. 
Learn about Steam Check

But, the best way to eliminate steam-related false alarms completely is to move Nest Protect away from sources of steam like bathrooms and home humidifiers.

Sensor failure

If Protect chirps and the app says there’s a sensor failure. You'll need to replace your Protect. If your Protect is still under warranty, you may file a claim at g.co/warrantyclaim.