Smoking detection is only supported indoors, on Minut sensors M3 and E1.
How does Smoking detection work?
Turn it on
Organization owners and admins can turn Smoking detection on or off for a unit. Members can see smoking alerts and report findings on them, but can't turn detection on or off.
Turn Smoking detection ON.
An M3 sensor enters Calibration mode. You'll be notified by email and notification when calibration is complete. You won't receive any smoking alerts during calibration. E1 sensors don't need calibration, so detection is active right away.
Once calibration is over, Minut starts monitoring the indoor air for smoking. If the unit has more than one sensor, monitoring starts once every supported sensor has finished calibrating.
When smoking is detected, you get a push notification on your phone and an email (if you have email alerts enabled). The alert is also added to the unit's event log.
Calibration
Installing an E1? There is no smoking detection calibration on E1. When you install an E1 sensor, Smoking detection is turned on automatically for the unit if your plan includes it and it isn't already on, and it is active right away. This also happens when you reinstall or swap in an E1, even if Smoking detection was turned off before, so turn it off again afterwards if you don't want it. Moving an E1 from one unit to another does not turn it on automatically.
On M3 sensors, calibration can be affected by the air quality in the room. If the sensor is in a place with constant cigarette or marijuana smoke, calibration can take longer. If you suspect a tenant or long-term guest already smokes in the unit, keep the sensor in a smoke-free room until calibration is done, then move it back.
Where to place the sensor
To get reliable detection and avoid false positives:
Place the sensor on the ceiling in the middle of the room when possible, or high on a wall away from obstructions. Don't hide it away on top of furniture.
Avoid placing it by stoves or fireplaces.
Avoid placing it close to ventilation, ACs or a window.
Avoid heated and freezing indoor environments.
What to expect
Smoking detection needs exposure to cigarette or marijuana smoke for approximately 20-30 minutes in order to detect. Simply blowing on the device to test it will not trigger detection.
When smoking is detected
Dismissing an alert
Smoking alerts clear automatically after a short while, or you can dismiss one yourself. Once an alert has been dismissed, further detections in the same unit are ignored for a short period, so you are not notified again and again about the same incident.
Reporting findings
To help us develop the feature, we'd appreciate your feedback on detected events. Open the mobile app, go to the affected unit, open the log and tap Report your findings. You can mark the detection as Correct, Incorrect or Don't know, and add an optional comment. Leaving feedback also dismisses the alert.
You can change your answer later from the unit's details card or event log, for example to mark a detection as a false alarm. Owners, admins and members can leave or change feedback; viewers can't.
The feedback option is only available when you receive a smoking event. If you haven't left feedback, you may get a reminder notification a couple of days later.
Smoke was present but not detected? Use the form linked from the smoking detection popover in the app to tell us.
Adjusting sensitivity
If you receive too many or too few smoking alerts, you can change how sensitive detection is. Users with permission to edit organization settings can create smoking detection profiles in Monitoring settings, each with a sensitivity of Low, Normal or High, and assign a profile to a unit from the unit's settings. Units without an assigned profile use your organization's default profile.
Owners and admins can also duplicate and delete profiles. You can't delete your last profile, or a profile that is assigned to a unit.
Smoking Insights report
Under Reports, the Smoking Insights report shows smoking events over time, events by unit, and a list of individual events.
FAQ
Will I be notified when the guest has stopped smoking?
No. Minut doesn't notify you when smoking stops. An alert clears on its own after a while, or you can dismiss it. After that, further detections in the same unit are ignored for a short period, so a new alert can only follow once that period has ended.
What to do if calibration takes longer?
If calibration of an M3 sensor exceeds 14 days, try placing the sensor in another smoke-free environment if the original location has constant cigarette or marijuana smoke. Once the sensor has completed calibration in the smoke-free area, return it to its initial location. If calibration still does not complete, please contact our support team for further assistance.
Where to place the sensor for optimal calibration?
The ideal place for a calibration is an environment without constant cigarette or marijuana smoke. Other than this criteria, you don't need special conditions or spaces.
How are smoking alerts delivered?
By push notification and email, and they also appear in the unit's event log. Smoking alerts are not sent by SMS.
If you have any questions regarding smoking detection, do not hesitate to reach out to our support team: hello@minut.com