SmartRent, Inc. (NYSE: SMRT) (“SmartRent” or the “Company”), a leading provider of smart communities and smart operations solutions for the rental housing industry, today announced the launch of its Climate Protection Mode feature. Built into SmartRent Alloy SmartHome Hub+ and Alloy Fusion thermostats, this first-of-its-kind asset protection technology provides a proactive defense against the leading causes of property damage: water, mold and moisture resulting from extreme environmental conditions.
As the multifamily industry faces mounting insurance pressure, with premiums surging an average of 55% since 2021, Climate Protection Mode introduces a necessary layer of portfolio resilience. Unlike standard thermostat programming, the feature functions as a silent, secondary fail-safe designed for emergency mitigation. The system remains dormant unless ambient conditions reach dangerous extremes—below 42°F, above 98°F or if humidity exceeds 80%—at which point the system activates automatically to restore a safe baseline without encroaching on daily resident settings.
“We designed Climate Protection Mode to act as an automated baseline for risk management,” said Chief Information Officer Sangeeth Ponathil. “By coding these safety thresholds directly on our Alloy SmartHome Hub+ and Alloy Fusion hardware, we are providing a hands-off asset protection tool that reduces human margin for error and addresses catastrophic damage before it impacts NOI, all while respecting resident privacy and daily autonomy.”
While the average repair cost for a burst pipe at multifamily properties is approximately $15,000, operators often report damages between $30,000-$50,000, particularly in high- and mid-rise communities where flooding can impact multiple floors. Operators also incur an average of $7,650 in additional losses per incident related to resident displacement and rent loss. By aiming to prevent these failures, Climate Protection Mode protects the resident’s home and belongings while potentially positioning owners for insurance premium reductions.
The efficacy of Climate Protection Mode is already proven at scale with 20 enterprise customers across 54 properties. Recently, a top-tier multifamily REIT reported the system was successfully activated more than 1,200 times across its multi-state portfolio, averting costly weather-related crises and preventing an estimated $6.7 million in damages.
“For multifamily operators, the most expensive risks are often the ones that go unnoticed, particularly in vacant units or during vendor turns when a climate system is inadvertently left switched off,” said Ponathil. “Historically, protecting against these blind spots required stretching on-site maintenance teams thin to conduct manual inspections or absorbing the financial hit of a major insurance claim. Recent reports from our customers clearly indicate the positive outcomes of effective climate protection technology.”
For more information about SmartRent solutions, visit smartrent.com.