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wannabervin's avatar
wannabervin
Explorer
Jun 15, 2017

Power monitoring?

We travel with 2 cats that we leave in the air conditioned rv when we are out and about. We are concerned that the power might go out resulting in dangerously high temps in the rv. Wondering if anyone has any advice on apps or other tools that monitor power and notify via cell phone of any outages. I've seen some that require a dedicated cell phone in the rv to send the outage message, but I'm not sure how that works with setting up network access. I don't want to pay for an extra line every month.
  • If you have 24/7 internet at the RV there are many choices available. Sans that, I'm not sure what you could do. Start googling I guess.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    This topic comes up every so often.

    We traveled with three cats and one dog all over the country and we never lost power in the RV while we were away. However, we always made sure the pets had plenty of water (and food) in the unlikely event the AC stopped working.

    Don't forget, an RV is considerably larger than a car and the temperatures inside won't even come close to the high temps found inside of a hot car.
  • I would suggest remote temperature monitoring vs power monitoring
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Most security companies can assist you on that as they have both Internet, Land line, and Wireless (Cellular) options. Any of the better companies will have multiple options.

    Also there is automatic generator start.. It can be set so that if the power goes out for say 5 Minutes.. The generator starts and runs. (That gives your Surge Protector time to reset if power "Blinks")

    NOTE: THere are also different types of AGS.. THe most common one in an RV works on battery voltage.. Not presence/absence of shore power.. But there is another type designed for "Home" use. I know, had that at the office when I was working.
  • We got a water and temp monitoring system when we did the winter away. It dials out on a phone and sends you a message.

    I had a Verizon land line and when I asked if they had a reduced service (for a reduced monthly fee), they said no. So I put the line line on vacation hold and went to the Verizon wireless store and bought a wireless home adapter, which is basically a cell phone in a box that you plug a wired phone into. $20 a month for the added line. I plugged the monitor into that It worked great.

    It worked so well that when I got home I dumped the land line and got a Panasonic base station wireless system and I'm using the home adapter for my home phone.
  • I have a camera that connects to wifi and can be viewed from my phone via internet. I could just place a thermometer on the field of view. The advantage over just the thermometer is being able to see the dog, too. However, it would not call when too warm.
  • gemsworld wrote:
    Don't forget, an RV is considerably larger than a car and the temperatures inside won't even come close to the high temps found inside of a hot car.


    Actually just as hot, it just takes a bit longer to get there due to the larger air volume.
  • allen8106 wrote:
    gemsworld wrote:
    Don't forget, an RV is considerably larger than a car and the temperatures inside won't even come close to the high temps found inside of a hot car.


    Actually just as hot, it just takes a bit longer to get there due to the larger air volume.


    Not really, for a few reasons. First, by heating up more slowly, it will not get as hot before nightfall comes and it starts cooling down again. (Unless one is at an extreme latitude, night will come periodically.)

    Second, a car generally has a lot more exposed glass in relation to its size, and so acts more like a greenhouse. This means more heat gain inside, and a higher ultimate temperature when everything is in equilibrium.

    Third, the RV is much better insulated than a car, and so there is less heat gain from the outside walls and roof. This would be especially true for a light colored RV (or at least light colored roof) and a dark colored car.

    For that matter, cars do vary quite a bit in how hot they get, too, depending on their design and color. My Honda Fit heats up in the sun a whole lot more than previous cars did, enough so that I bought a windshield sun shade very soon after getting the car, even though I had never particularly needed one previously living in Vermont.
  • Check out Temperature Alarm Alert at the Google Play Store. If you already have 2 cellphones, this could be an option.
  • Just a reminder that if air conditioning stops as a result of power loss likely your remote system will not notify/be accessible unless critical components are on some sort of UPS (or you have Gen with auto start).

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