Logitech Harmony now speaks with Nest Protect, Rheem EcoNet

The number of smart appliances you can put in your home is increasing exponentially to the point that keeping track of them, much less controlling them, is becoming a chore, which nullifies the premise of a smart home. The peace of mind that comes with orchestrating all these disparate pieces together is exactly the promise that Logitech Harmony makes. Today, it is increasing that peace of mind by adding Nest's Protect smart smoke detectors and Rheem's EcoNet smart water heater to the list of supported devices.

Logitech Harmony is more than just a remote control. It's a system made up of the Ultimate Home, Home Hub, and Home Control that lets you not only control and configure each individual smart appliance from a single app or device, you can also hook them up as a group that moves together at a certain time or condition. And with IFTTT support introduced last year, you can cook up almost any recipe to suit your needs or situation.

For example, now that Harmony integrates with Nest Protect, you can set Harmony to shut down all other electronic devices, like the TV, gaming devices, and other appliances, when Protect detects smoke, to provide even more palpable hints of probable danger. Of course, Nest Protect itself can be configured to send you notifications on your phone, but this setup takes immediate action in case of an emergency.

While being able to start the water heater remotely might already be convenient enough, setting up Rheem EcoNet's schedules and parameters using Logitech Harmony making things more efficient and smarter. On normal days, you can set a schedule when to start and stop the water heater so that you don't have to do it yourself even from a distance. And when the house gets busier with more guests, you can also easily adjust the settings to push the water heater to its (safe) limits.

Logitech Harmony is already compatible with a number of popular brands, including August, Honeywell, Kwikset, Lutron, Nest's Learning Thermostat, PEQ, Philips Hue, Schlage, SmartThings, Sylvania, Yale, and Zuli. These two newest family members are immediately available to all Harmony users and devices so they can already tie Nest and Rheem together with their existing setup.

SOURCE: Logitech