Mr. Freeze.
December 12, 2011 6:02 AM Subscribe
A winter trip is pending, and I'm paranoid about a potential boiler failure causing burst pipes and warped floors. What's the easiest, most surefire way to monitor the temperature in my house while I'm gone?
I'm a neophyte at this, but I'm thinking that the best solution would most likely be a room temperature monitor that would communicate wirelessly with my router and send me and my boiler guy an email if the temperature dropped below a preset number.
Do these devices exist, and can they be installed by DIYers? What makers and models should I be looking at, keeping in mind that I should be willing to shell out $$s on higher-end equipment that gives me peace of mind?
Can I get away with a single monitor in a single room, or would several be more optimal? Is there any way to pair a room monitor with a webcam in the room, assuming that this doesn't involve rocket science?
As a related question for MeFi snowbirds, what temperature do you set your thermostate to during extended trips in the winter?
I'm a neophyte at this, but I'm thinking that the best solution would most likely be a room temperature monitor that would communicate wirelessly with my router and send me and my boiler guy an email if the temperature dropped below a preset number.
Do these devices exist, and can they be installed by DIYers? What makers and models should I be looking at, keeping in mind that I should be willing to shell out $$s on higher-end equipment that gives me peace of mind?
Can I get away with a single monitor in a single room, or would several be more optimal? Is there any way to pair a room monitor with a webcam in the room, assuming that this doesn't involve rocket science?
As a related question for MeFi snowbirds, what temperature do you set your thermostate to during extended trips in the winter?
The internet has been all abuzz over The Nest, which is a thermostat you can check and set over the 'net. So that will let you monitor the temperature in your house.
You could combine that with a Water Cop to shut off your water in the event of a burst pipe.
With those two you can keep tabs on your house and be sure a leak will be controlled.
But if your heating system is causing you that much worry you should probably have someone inspect the whole system and replace anything that might be an issue.
posted by bondcliff at 6:40 AM on December 12, 2011
You could combine that with a Water Cop to shut off your water in the event of a burst pipe.
With those two you can keep tabs on your house and be sure a leak will be controlled.
But if your heating system is causing you that much worry you should probably have someone inspect the whole system and replace anything that might be an issue.
posted by bondcliff at 6:40 AM on December 12, 2011
The easiest, most sure-fired way to avoid problems is to have your boiler repairman come and do a system check and help you winterize the system. Even the expensive monitoring devices are not foolproof and add extra chances that one piece of the system will fail. Even remote computer monitors will be useless in the event of power failure or reset which tends to happen during winter storms.
posted by JJ86 at 6:40 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by JJ86 at 6:40 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
While the high tech methods here are certainly worth investigation, I'm going to suggest that you also enlist a friend or service to stop by and check on your house at reasonable periodic intervals. Friends of mine go away for parts of the winter and I am this friend. I've found fallen trees, unexpected leaking pipes, and extended power outages which sent house temperatures near freezing. People will see and be able to deal with situations your electronic monitoring isn't setup for.
posted by countrymod at 6:48 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by countrymod at 6:48 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was just typing what countrymod said. Ill just add that some home insurance policies require that you not leave the home unattended for too long a stretch. Call and ask.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:55 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:55 AM on December 12, 2011
Thirding the suggestion that you go ahead and winterize your house if you're going to be gone for more than, say, a month. For my in-laws infrequently-used cabin, we would only drip the faucets and leave the heater/boiler on during the summer months or if we knew someone was going to be returning within a week.
posted by muddgirl at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by muddgirl at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: I've considered the winterizing option for longer trips, but because temps fall into the single digits, I'm concerned about damage to computers and electronics and possible damage to wood and drywall (due to expanding and contracting, mold during warm spells, etc.) in the interior of the house.
Don't these concerns factor in when considering long-term winterization?
posted by Gordion Knott at 7:31 AM on December 12, 2011
Don't these concerns factor in when considering long-term winterization?
posted by Gordion Knott at 7:31 AM on December 12, 2011
You're certainly not going to hurt wood or drywall by letting them get cold, and I don't think your electronics would suffer too much either. You can check your computer/TV/whatever's manual to see if they have a storage range of temperatures to go with the operating range.
posted by Aizkolari at 8:07 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by Aizkolari at 8:07 AM on December 12, 2011
Freezing temperatures should not affect electronics which are turned off (which they all should be during winterization).
I mis-spoke earlier - I just looked at our winterization steps and we do leave the heater on, set to 45°F, even after we turn off all the water. Many broiler heating systems have a mixture of water and anti-freeze, so leaving that running shouldn't be a problem. Here's a more complete guide that also has recommendations for temperature monitoring services (although we have never seen a need for these and our cabin is unoccupied for most of the year).
I should also mention that the neighbors who live next door to our cabin do keep an eye on it and have the number of the closest relative.
posted by muddgirl at 8:08 AM on December 12, 2011
I mis-spoke earlier - I just looked at our winterization steps and we do leave the heater on, set to 45°F, even after we turn off all the water. Many broiler heating systems have a mixture of water and anti-freeze, so leaving that running shouldn't be a problem. Here's a more complete guide that also has recommendations for temperature monitoring services (although we have never seen a need for these and our cabin is unoccupied for most of the year).
I should also mention that the neighbors who live next door to our cabin do keep an eye on it and have the number of the closest relative.
posted by muddgirl at 8:08 AM on December 12, 2011
For several months I monitored an empty for-sale house using the motorola homesight system which works with the internet based "xanboo" service. The major parts are (1) gateway which plugs into your router; (2) one or more sensors, cameras, remotely operated switches.
Most of the remote gadgets are wireless (camera excepted). The idea is that if a sensor notices something out of bounds then you get an email or text msg. If you have a camera you can then log into the xanboo site and take a peak. I used a slightly fancier than rock-bottom camera that works reasonably well in low light, and that I could pivot around to look out a window to see if the plow guy had done the driveway.One advantage over some competing approaches is that the gateway gadget replaces the need to have a computer running all the time.
So I spent a few hundred $$ for the gateway, camera, a couple of moisture sensors, a temperature sensor, and a motion detector. In addition, it was about $10.00/mo for the service.
It wasn't perfect, but it generally functioned well. Hookup is generally easy since it's wireless with a gadget "discovery function". The camera took a little thinking since I didn't want to run wires or use their over the house wiring approach - ended up using an "internet bridge."
Here's xanboo: http://www.xanboo.com/devices/
I bought the parts and signed up for the xanboo service via this distributor:
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/Motorola/Item/X1000/ The distributor was knowledgeable and responsive when I had question. But it appears they have discontinued offering the product. If that's the case maybe they can suggest an alternative.
Good luck.
posted by Kevin S at 10:37 AM on December 12, 2011
Most of the remote gadgets are wireless (camera excepted). The idea is that if a sensor notices something out of bounds then you get an email or text msg. If you have a camera you can then log into the xanboo site and take a peak. I used a slightly fancier than rock-bottom camera that works reasonably well in low light, and that I could pivot around to look out a window to see if the plow guy had done the driveway.One advantage over some competing approaches is that the gateway gadget replaces the need to have a computer running all the time.
So I spent a few hundred $$ for the gateway, camera, a couple of moisture sensors, a temperature sensor, and a motion detector. In addition, it was about $10.00/mo for the service.
It wasn't perfect, but it generally functioned well. Hookup is generally easy since it's wireless with a gadget "discovery function". The camera took a little thinking since I didn't want to run wires or use their over the house wiring approach - ended up using an "internet bridge."
Here's xanboo: http://www.xanboo.com/devices/
I bought the parts and signed up for the xanboo service via this distributor:
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/Motorola/Item/X1000/ The distributor was knowledgeable and responsive when I had question. But it appears they have discontinued offering the product. If that's the case maybe they can suggest an alternative.
Good luck.
posted by Kevin S at 10:37 AM on December 12, 2011
Don't these concerns factor in when considering long-term winterization?
Not really. Wood and drywall aren't affected by cold, and electronics actually work better in the cold--easier to vent excess heat. This why insane overclockers submerge their CPUs in liquid nitrogen.
Draining your pipes, shutting off your water, unplugging all your appliances, getting your boiler serviced and setting the heat for 45-50F is probably all you need to do here.
posted by valkyryn at 11:49 AM on December 12, 2011
Not really. Wood and drywall aren't affected by cold, and electronics actually work better in the cold--easier to vent excess heat. This why insane overclockers submerge their CPUs in liquid nitrogen.
Draining your pipes, shutting off your water, unplugging all your appliances, getting your boiler serviced and setting the heat for 45-50F is probably all you need to do here.
posted by valkyryn at 11:49 AM on December 12, 2011
For a few bucks a day, you could probably get a trustworthy neighborhood teenager to go in your house once or twice a day and check the temperature and follow a set of written instructions (try to restart the boiler, call you, call your boiler guy) if the house is found to be too cold.
posted by Orinda at 4:23 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by Orinda at 4:23 PM on December 12, 2011
My house was sitting empty last winter (Michigan), I had a boiler system with a slight glitch we were working on. In the meantime I dug up an old Mac set it to restart automatically (in case of a power failure) and log me in and boot iChat, put a web cam on it, pointed it at an easy to read thermometer that had a small light pointed at it.
A couple of times a day I would log into iChat from my other computer and check the temp at the house.
It was a cobbled solution, but it alerted me the two times the boiler shut down.
posted by tomswift at 5:54 PM on December 12, 2011
A couple of times a day I would log into iChat from my other computer and check the temp at the house.
It was a cobbled solution, but it alerted me the two times the boiler shut down.
posted by tomswift at 5:54 PM on December 12, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you aren't going to be gone that long, just set up a slow drip to keep the water moving through the pipes and have a neighbor check in every week or so. But really, just winterize the thing and have done. You save on equipment and utility costs.
posted by valkyryn at 6:26 AM on December 12, 2011