Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET's takeaways
The Ting app lets you track power outages at a hyper-local level.
Anyone can use the free map, even those without a Ting device.
Ting says 95% of US homes have a Ting sensor within a mile.
If you want to know as soon as the power goes out in your city, there's a new free tool that lets you keep an eye on things.
The Ting company, which makes a smart device that plugs into an outlet, monitors your home wiring, and alerts you of fire risks (you can read our take on it here), has announced a new feature for its app: a free, live, hyper-local power outage map. The app and map are available to anyone, and you don't need a device to track outages.
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The map works by tracking when Ting-connected devices lose power. It promises instant notifications when the power goes out and when it comes back on, down to the neighborhood. It's true that most power companies offer alerts, but at least for mine, alerts can be delayed. My outage notifications come within 10 minutes, but my restoration alerts sometimes come more than an hour after the lights are back on. When you combine that with the fact that not every provider offers alerts, you can see some value in Ting's alerts.
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