anyone using a home monitoring system when gone

beemerphile1 wrote:

tatest wrote:
...For a substantial additional fee, I can get daily outside walkarounds....

My local police do this for free. Anyone interested may want to check with your local PD.

But they won't come into the house and check things, or manage emergency repairs. You trimmed what I said to fit what you wanted to say.

dalenoel wrote:
I have one from Amazon that detects water in a malfunctioning sump pump, loss of power, and low temp. It is a Control Products HS-700.

Amazon Link

For under $80.

I have had it call me for power failure and then call back when power is restored. I also have someone locally who will check when there is a problem if I call them. The unit will call 3 phone numbers and also sounds an audible alarm.

Works well for me and gives me piece of mind.

x2 - this one works great for monitoring for water in the basement and power outages.

I also have a monitored alarm system, but that's for a completely different type of problem.

tatest wrote:
...For a substantial additional fee, I can get daily outside walkarounds....

My local police do this for free. Anyone interested may want to check with your local PD.

I was gonna get Xfinity home...
...we have our retired sheriff neighbor friend watching the house and feeding birds and KOI while we're gone.

Not to mention a CHP neighbor lady 2 doors away and a Roseville police officer 4 doors the other way.
So there's some law enforcement around here.
The patrol cars on the street here help a lot with keeping the early release parolee criminals away.

Everything tied into an alarm system locally monitored 24/7, with mobile responders and patrols. If I tell them when I am gone, they respond differently than when I am at home. But that costs something for the service, to me worth it having it local as opposed to a national monitoring center or trying to monitor it myself via computer or cell phone.

For a substantial additional fee, I can get daily outside walkarounds, weekly inside checks, and management of emergency repairs. I used this service when out of the country for two years, but it could apply as well to a snowbirding seasonal away. When I had family in the same town, they would do this, or trusted friends can be put on call for my security company.

Shop around for services available in your area, technology alone may not always be enough.

Dtaylor wrote:
Does anyone have a video monitoring system where they can use a smart phone or tablet to check on things without going thru an alarm company?

We use a Dropcam brand camera to keep an eye on things from our smartphones or laptop. Camera can be turned on or off from a smartphone.
It can be set to send alerts when it senses motion and it has night vision.

yep that and a high water detector in the sump are a couple of zones that we had adde3d to the security system.

Yes, we have. Right now daughter is here but we used for a couple of years while in Florida. Worked great...we could call it and it would tell us the temperature:)

I use the Reliance Controls THP201.
http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Controls-THP201-Automatic-Functions/dp/B000IF8QB2/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1378487566&sr=1-2&keywords=water+electric+heat+monitor

Dtaylor wrote:
Does anyone have a video monitoring system where they can use a smart phone or tablet to check on things without going thru an alarm company?

Yes, Foscam and Ubiquiti cameras using BlueIris software