Home freeze/flood sensors

[AlaskaHunter]

We rent our Alaska home in the winter with a tenant upstairs and downstairs used for our storage.
(We winter in Montana)

I like the RING sensor systems because there is no subscription required and there is a wide variety
of sensors: freeze/flood, motion, contact sensors, etc. I also like the video camera that texts me
whenever anyone drives into the the property. Plus I can see how much snow is still back home.

We use a watchman temperature sensor downstairs that logs the ambient temperature ever
hour and emails me the 24-hour log every day. The watchman is more precise than the RING
freeze flood sensor. The RING freeze flood sensor is triggered at 40 degrees F, while the
watchman sensor can be set by the user. I have the temperature thresholds set to 70F and 60F
which has worked well.

Last weekend while our tenant was away backcountry skiing, the
watchman sensor texted a warning as soon as the room temperature dropped below 60F.

We could see an hourly decline...60F, 58F, 55F....and called a neighbor to fire up the wood stoves
on both floors. Then contacted the heating contractor for service the next morning.
Turned out the recirculating pump died so the boiler shutdown.
With a Sunday night low of 9 degrees, frozen pipes was possible if we did not have the sensor
warning us to take action from 2500 miles away from home.

 

[LuketheDog]

(We winter in Montana)

I have no input, I just thought that part was funny...you're like the migrating birds from the north who spend the winter here in Colorado because they think it's warm vs. the birds who live here in the summer and fly even farther south to where it's actually warm in the winter.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I have no input, I just thought that part was funny...you're like the migrating birds from the north who spend the winter here in Colorado because they think it's warm vs. the birds who live here in the summer and fly even farther south to where it's actually warm in the winter.

We love wintering in Montana. It does not get dark until after 5pm and I can hunt until mid January.
Plus an early spring.
This is back home 25April2023 in Alaska where the melt has just barely started.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Besides the potential for frozen pipes, flooding due to a leaking water heater, etc. is another potential.
We use RING flood sensors at our water heater, boiler, bathroom, etc.
They trigger a text message when tested with a damp paper towel.