This Tiny Plug-In Gadget Can Stop Electrical Fires Before They Start

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Electrical fires are one of the most subtle yet dangerous threats to your home. As they often originate either in your walls or within buried electrical mains, it can be extremely difficult to catch these problems before a fire is already blazing. You can also run into trouble by using outlets incorrectly or loading up your power strips and extension cords with the wrong types of devices. If you're concerned with an electrical fire sparking off in your home, whether you're there or not, you can add an extra layer of security with the help of the Ting Fire electrical fire prevention sensor.

The Ting sensor is a simple device that you can plug into any outlet in your home. After some setup and a little time to familiarize itself with your home's particular power profile, this sensor will monitor for any sudden, disconcerting fluctuations in electrical activity, automatically sending alerts to your smartphone if something dangerous is detected. Armed with these warnings, you can call an electrician and have them get a handle on the matter before it spirals out of control into a full-scale electrical fire.

Despite being a home electricity monitor, the Ting sensor doesn't actually require any invasive installation into your power grid. You just plug it into any unoccupied outlet in your home and set it up using your smartphone. After the initial installation, you leave the sensor plugged in for about a week so it can gather information about your home's power grid and determine a baseline for your normal power usage. Afterward, the sensor begins passively monitoring your grid, watching for any sudden spikes in electrical transfer that might indicate events like electrical arcs or other potential fire hazards. These kinds of events can occur in old, worn-out wiring, but you wouldn't know there's a problem if you're not checking the state of your system regularly.

If the Ting monitor detects a dangerous electrical event, it sends an alert to the Ting app on your phone. The details are also sent to Ting's Fire Safety Team, who can provide guidance on the nature of the event and what you can do about it, such as calling an electrician. Using the Ting sensor does require a yearly contract for Fire Safety Team service, though this contract comes with a $1,000 labor repair credit for covering the costs to help fix problems that Ting identifies.

The Ting sensor is quite well liked by its users, rating 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, based on more than 400 user reviews. Purchasers of the product cite good value for the price and a feeling of security among the reasons they like the Ting. With an ever-expanding array of gadgets and plugs in our lives, including devices that can cause electrical fires when used with smart plugs, a little extra peace of mind is always welcome.