Having kids means having a nightlight. These handy little things keep beneath-the-bed monsters at bay and light the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. So it was only a matter of time before this classic plug-in got an upgrade.

Meet the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight. In addition to lighting the darker corners and hallways of your home with millions of cool colors, Leeo also monitors your existing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and connects to a free iOS app (Android version coming soon) via WiFi, so that it can alert you to emergencies.

 

Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight monitors your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

 

What makes the Leeo nightlight smart is that it senses different frequencies emitted by your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms that signal something is awry. If the Leeo “hears” an alarm, it sends an alert to your smartphone.

Whether you’re outside in the backyard or away on vacation, you’ll still be alerted to a potential emergency — as long as you’ve got your phone with you.

I really like that if you don’t respond to the alert on your phone, Leeo will run through a list of emergency contacts you’ve pre-programmed — including 911 — and notify them about the situation brewing at your house. If there’s no answer from the first contact, Leeo will move on to the next person on the list. This feature could be super important if you live in a more rural area, where your nearest neighbors might actually live pretty far from you.

Leeo Nightlight alerts authorities if your smoke or carbon monoxide detector goes off

 

It’s a huge plus that you do not have to replace your alarms and detectors with “smart” versions in order to get alerts from Leeo. It can also monitor the temperature and humidity in your home, and alert you if those numbers drop or spike. So you might be out of town and get a message that it’s 40°F in your house, which probably means that the furnace has gone out, and you might want to call someone right away.

The variety of glowing colors you can choose for the light is definitely a cool factor. The company claims that there are literally millions of options (not that we need millions of options, but still) and  that you can adjust the shade by sliding your finger along the color spectrum on the app. Since kids are sure to love this feature, parents can even use it as motivation or reassurance at bedtime.

Of course, there’s the downside of shelling out $100 for a night light. Yes, $100. But the Leeo does a lot more than brighten dim hallways and in fact I think of that as more of the secondary benefit. The fact that it works with arms and detectors you already own and offers peace of mind when you’re not at home, which could make the price tag worthwhile.

The Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight is available on the Leeo site or at our Amazon affiliate for $99.99.