Anyway to monitor temps inside TT when gone for day? ideas?

[jbres]

I am going on a week long trip in my trailer this summer, and bringing all 3 dogs. During the days we will be gone at different events. Anyone know of anything I could use to monitor the temps inside my trailer while I am gone? I always fear blowing a fuse or tripping the breaking on the air conditioning while I am gone for the day, and my dogs literally baking to death inside the trailer.(I know that sounds cruel)
I need to figure something out because I cant leave the dogs at home, and I also cant bring them to the events with us each day.
I do put a lock on my panel box so nobody can "accidently" kick my plug out which has happened before.
Forgot to mention this will all take place during the hottest time of the summer, the week after the 4th of July.
Advice? Ideas?
Thanks!

[westend]

I've just gotta' ask this since I can't understand...How does the temperature reach a level inside a travel trailer that is injurious to a dog?

I'm assuming a few things: The trailer is not parked in Death Valley, the trailer has ceiling vents and a fan can be powered, the trailer has enough ceiling insulation so that it's not just a steel box sitting in the sun, the dog is not a Malamute or Husky.

Is it that owners feel that their dog has to live in air conditioned space because the owners are uncomfortable without it? It occurs to me that dogs and humans existed through millions of years without air conditioning. Maybe I'm just blessed that I have good insulation in my rig and live in the Northern climes. Still, if I leave the roof vents open and have a fan going, even at 90f temps, the inside temps are not that much above ambient. Can be even cooler depending on location.

[BurbMan]

Dog Folks wrote:
We have always let those in the office or at the gate know we would be gone, and would ask that they call our cell phone if the power is lost. A small note, including excessive barking is also on the camper.

Every CG we have been to, either private or state park, has had a sign that prohibits leaving pets unattended in campers. Sounds like that rule is widely ignored?

[Dog_Folks]

We have always let those in the office or at the gate know we would be gone, and would ask that they call our cell phone if the power is lost. A small note, including excessive barking is also on the camper.

[Dog_Folks]

We have always let those in the office or at the gate know we would be gone, and would ask that they call if the power is lost. A small note is also on the camper.

[dieselenthusias]

We also travel with our dogs and share the same concern at the OP. There are some good ideas in this thread to help monitor temps while gone.

[Huntindog]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
What good will it do to know it's too hot in the trailer if you're 100 miles away? We always turn on the A/C if there's any chance it will get too warm and never leave our dog unattended for more than a couple hours. Otherwise she can go to PetSmart and spend the day playing with the other dogs..

B.O.

WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!! THEY ARE GOING TO BE 100 MILES AWAY!!! HE DIDN'T MENTION THAT FACT.
It changes everything. I am glad that you brought it to my attention.

I'll get the rope whilst you pick out the tree!:B

[2naEagle]

Freeze Alarm I have been using this for years. Check it out.

[Big_Katuna]

The Tip Temp for $400 does it. You need a blue tooth cell phone.

I have never tried it but have read that some cell phones (not iPhone unless you jailbreak) can be configured to autoanswer to handsfree.

If you left the TV on loud enough you could at least know the power was still on. A burner phone might be good enough.

There are cell routers for a few hundred and you could use some of the cheaper wifi alarms.

Also Google DIY RV pet monitor; there are some blogs out there.

In Florida, it can get hot quick.

[tessa25]

Haha, looking at the suggestions, I have most of them. I use Sensaphone in my second home. Totally awesome, but I agree about the overkill for a camper. I have Temperature alert. It's part of my plan to send pics, temperature, time to a server via wifi. The LaCross sensor has to hook via LAN. It's not really wifi. But Connectsense is wifi.

[TakingThe5th]

This is something that obviously would be helpful either at the stick and brick or at the CG. Listening to the various suggestion strings here - I come away thinking you should either board your pet 24/7 😞 or be using some sort of monitoring device wherever your pet is located. Just saying ...

We have a service dog and cannot simply leave her at a kennel, the second reason being that she requires a specifically trained handler. Although we take her most places, there are times when we are apart and on behalf of my dog I'm finding this thread to be very thought provoking. Thanks.

[Majja13]

Sounds like a bribe of a 12 pack of the camp host's choice would go a long way.

[B_O__Plenty]

What good will it do to know it's too hot in the trailer if you're 100 miles away? We always turn on the A/C if there's any chance it will get too warm and never leave our dog unattended for more than a couple hours. Otherwise she can go to PetSmart and spend the day playing with the other dogs..

B.O.

[BurbMan]

This should do the trick for about $100, click pic for link. Only drawback is that you need an internet connection...does the CG you plan to stay at have wifi? Or do you have a mifi, hotspot or similar?



Caveman, they still make the Sensaphone but they cost almost $2000 and are way overkill for what the OP needs.

Here's one that works directly off the cell network and doesn't need a wifi connection, but it's $400:

[fairfaxjim]

Caveman Charlie wrote:
I never board my dog. I can leave him in my house and have a family member check on him twice a day. I have a kennel outside my house I can leave him in. But, most often I take him along.

Back to the OP's question. In my home I have a device by Phonetics, Inc. called Sensaphone. It hooks to my home phone and calls my cell phone or any other number I program into to it. It monitors electric failure, noise, temp, or a few other things. This is quite a old unit but, somebody somewhere must make a modern version. We use things like this in the livestock industry to monitor livestock buildings.

The Sensaphone is alive and well, I just installed one in our shop to monitor temperature and power failure. There are some other, smaller and slightly cheaper alternatives. These are great because they will tell you if your power has failed, temperature, and you can add other sensors. The problem with using them in the campground is you will need a cell phone module for them, and this gets expensive.

[Caveman_Charlie]

I never board my dog. I can leave him in my house and have a family member check on him twice a day. I have a kennel outside my house I can leave him in. But, most often I take him along.

Back to the OP's question. In my home I have a device by Phonetics, Inc. called Sensaphone. It hooks to my home phone and calls my cell phone or any other number I program into to it. It monitors electric failure, noise, temp, or a few other things. This is quite a old unit but, somebody somewhere must make a modern version. We use things like this in the livestock industry to monitor livestock buildings.