We bought our Nest Learning Thermostat in August 2014, adding 2 x “Nest Protect 2nd Generation Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Wired)” in July 2015. One for the hallway downstairs and one for the landing upstairs.
Impressed by the thermostat, we invested in the “Protects” knowing that they had a 10-year life, where did those years go?! In April 2025, we received an email from Nest saying, “Google will no longer provide support for the Nest Learning Thermostat (2nd gen, Europe version) launched in 2014“
It gets worse: Nest/Google is pulling sales and support out of Europe for all its thermostats. You can still purchase the combined smoke detectors, though when I looked at the cost, they cost £130 each. We appreciated that Nest would shut down the thermostat and boiler if it detected carbon monoxide.
In the April 2025 email, Nest/Google included a link to purchase a tado° Smart Thermostat X – Starter Kit at 50% off the retail price of £159.99. We took advantage of the special offer, although we still haven’t installed the tado° Smart Thermostat. We removed and disposed of both Nest Protects, meaning we had to investigate a replacement system.
As fans of Home Assistant, the key criteria for the smoke/heat, and carbon monoxide alarms were that they integrated seamlessly into Home Assistant.
After having spent time looking at what devices would integrate with Home Assistant, we settled on X-Sense. There is a custom integration that links the SBS50 base station to Home Assistant.
X-Sense offers a wide range of sensor alarms that connect to the base station, and they price them keenly. We got started with the following package, making use of the Amazon voucher price:
A SBS50 base station and a combined smoke and carbon monoxide alarm for £35, that is an exceptional bargain. The system is expandable, so you can add more sensors as funds permit.
We created our own page for the X-Sense system in Home Assistant, which shows the status of each device.
Description | Cost |
|---|---|
| SBS50 & SC07-MR Bundle (Base station & Combination Smoke + CO detector | £35.00 |
| XP02S-MR Smoke Alarm | £15.00 |
| XP02S-MR Smoke Alarm | £15.00 |
| XC01-M Carbon Monoxide Alarm | £24.00 |
The X-Sense safety devices we have bought to date cost less than 1 x Nest Protect, even though the ‘Protects’ are beautifully stylish and functional, we think we made the right choice. There is one thing we miss that the Nest Protects have, and that is the ‘Pathlight’ feature, which allows you to avoid stepping on cats at night when it is dark.
Our Nest Pathlight replacement
