Remote Temperature Monitors

[MissouriBird]

We would like to spend a month or so in the south during the coming winter, but are quite concerned about loss of power at our home, or furnace failure--both of which would lead to frozen pipes and lots of other issues.

What kind of remote temperature sensor/alarm do you use and what would you recommend? We want something that not only monitors temp in house and freezer, but is also capable of sending either a text message to alert us as well as our daughter.

All suggestions will be appreciated.

[BarneyS]

When we leave Michigan for the winter we set the thermostat at 50 degrees, turn off the well pump and water heater, put cooking oil in the drains and toilets, and go.
Our daughter comes by to check the house occasionally but I have a Generac 16K whole house generator that is powered by natural gas that sends me a text message plus an e-mail whenever it runs, plus a Temp Stick that sends me an e-mail if the temperature gets below whatever low limit I have it set at. It also lets me know the temp and humidity via a cell phone and computer app that I can check daily or whenever.

This routine has worked well for us for the past 15 years without problems. I just have to keep my WiFi going while we are gone for the Temp Stick to work but the generator is completely independent and does not need my WiFi.
Barney

[Dog_Trainer]

Because we snowbird and are on the road much of the time during the summer, I have invested in a small (8000 watt ) whole house genny. It is one with a separate ac electrical panel that controls 10 separate circuits and 2 220 circuits. I wanted to make sure the furnace, sump pump, Refer and a few other circuits were protected for a power failure. When we leave we winterize the house by draining the water down by opening a low level faucet in the basement and opening the faucets upstairs after shutting the water off where it enters the house. Then I put clear saran type wrap across all the toilet bowls then fill freezer bags half way up with water and lay them in the drains of the house. drain the wwater heater and make sure it is off. We set the Tstat to 50 degrees. We allow our neighbor to use our driveway to park a car that is normally in their way and he watches out for our home. We have friends that are close by abd they periodically check the house by going in and looking around. I also go to out local PD and let them know we will be gone for an extended period and they send a patrol car around at random. all in all this does not take too much time to do and the peace of mind is worth the effort.

[Dutch_12078]

The power question at our upstate NY vacation cottage is as important to us as the temperature in the winter. We use an Acu-rite hub and remote sensor system that lets us check the temperature online at any time via an Acu-rite website. We have two sensors inside and one outside. The site sends us alerts if either of the two sensors inside drop below our set limit, the sensors report a low battery, or if it hasn't heard from the sensors for couple of hours. Our two daughters live within a few miles of the cottage, so we can ask them check it out if we get an alert and take appropriate action. They check on the cottage once a week or so anyway.

[westend]

Typically, there are a few homes in MN that suffer the fate of what is pictured by dodge guy, every year.

Last year, my BIL and SIL left for a month long trip to Belize. They have a closed hot water system and accessory electric heat coils in baths and kitchens, along with a gas fired space heater in a fireplace opening. Since they are penny-pinchers, they turned everything either off or to the lowest settings. The boiler system failed, either because of a broken pipe or because of a failed heating section. When I arrived on scene, there were multiple hot water system pipes and radiators broken, drains seemed intact but all drains were treated with antifreeze. My wife and I were able to add additional heat and, along with the accessory heaters, slowly drain the heating system and save the toilets/drains. The damage was in excess of $75K. Had we not arrived on scene, the damage would have been well into six figures since drains are set into concrete slabs and tile walls.

My suggestion is to have your heating system inspected, leave some slack in the thermostat settings (don't turn them down to 45f!) and have someone check your home every few days. The additional money spent on overview and heat may save your Winter vacation and a lot of trouble.

[ktmrfs]

Thomas/NH wrote:
I have NEST thermostats in my house and apartments. I can read and set/change the temperature in several locations. It a great piece of mind... Can't help you with the freezer, but if I know the house temperature, I really wouldn't care about the freezer.

x2. and it gives me outside temperature, weather conditions, and if the heat/cooling is on or not, and even when it may have run.

The next app also can interface with other systems, IIRC there is at least one that has sensors for things like freezer, fridge etc.

But before we leave for any trips, we turn off the water, turn the WH either off or to pilot, turn off the hot water recirculating pump, open one hot and cold faucet till pressure drops. If we are going to be gone for more than a month or so I also put some cooking oil in all the p traps.

And worst case our daughter lives only a few miles away and neighbor watches the house so they can check periodically especially if we have any power failures.

[dodge_guy]

Yep! The last thing you want is this!!!!!:E



But a remote monitor won’t do any good if the power goes out and you lose your internet to send you a message. I have a honey well t-stay and it has worked great. If you have a battery back up for the WiFi on your house it will work great!

[realter]

Did you decide what you're going to do?

[jplante4]

I had the local handyman drop in once a week to check things out. He was supposed to turn on the water every so often to charge the boiler but I think he forgot it because the boiler pressure was low and I blew a circ pump when I got home.

For those with forced hot water heat, if you turn the water off the normal makeup for the boiler won't happen. This happens even if you don't have any leaks. If you leave the water on and the expansion tank diaphragm ruptures, you will fill up the basement in short order. I had this happen while I was home and had an inch of water in the basement in 10 minutes. With no expansion tank to provide a damper, the PT valve opens when the burner kicks on and where ever the overflow goes gets wet.

[time2roll]

Do you have a plan of action when the power goes out? Nice to get notified but do you plan to run home? Do you know if the communication utilities will continue to operate?

If the power must stay on I would be looking for a battery/inverter or an auto-start generator. Maybe both. Possibly some solar.

+1 to just winterize the home and let it freeze.

[RCMAN46]

I have been using a Sensaphone for the last 10 years and have never had a problem with reliability.

Sensaphone

I also have it wired to motion detectors in my home.

Acu-rite also has a WIFI hub that you can access with a smart phone if there is WIFI at the home being monitored.

Acu-Rite system

[webslave]

Grit dog wrote:
At least just turn off the water. Then if you happen to pop a waterline,'it's only a small leak not a swimming pool in the basement and a huge water bill.

X2. I have a well pump (shallow well siphon in the cellar) and I have a flow valve on the output side of the pump. I close the valve, cut the power for both it and the water heater, leave the thermostat at 50 and hit the road. We've lost power for a week, once, and the house stayed warm enough from solar gain that nothing froze and that was in January.

I thought about getting one of those "early warning" systems, but, the end result is that a frozen/ruptured pipe would wind up waiting until we got home anyway...don't need the added angst of something that I can't do anything about and it can't damage anything with no water pressure.

[Grit_dog]

At least just turn off the water. Then if you happen to pop a waterline,'it's only a small leak not a swimming pool in the basement and a huge water bill.

[Dick_B]

We have several tilt and swivel internet cameras thruout the house and the one in the kitchen can see a digital thermometer on the counter. The cameras also give us reassurance that our house is still there! They are `live' only and do not record.

[Toolguy5]

We have a honey well thermostat, it has a red link router hooked to the Internet.
I can control the furnace from my IPhone.

I also turn all water off when we leave.