Cabin monitoring

[jackpine]

For you guys that have cabins several hours drive from your home that you keep the heat and water on during winter, how do you know if the furnace stops working, etc? I know the new thermostats use WiFi that will text you or that you can see on a smartphone, but what if you don't have internet in the area..just looking for other ideas/options. Thanks

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[Red Picqua]

i have mine set up on that same system like you described. But, I use a wireless hotspot from Verizon for the internet. My internet is 4gLTE or high speed. Most people don't know this, but to have a "landline" all you need to do is plug in a house phone to the router and you are up and running for phone service. So, that opened up the security system pandoras box. So I hooked up a Security system that calls via a "land line".. Most security systems require a land line or you pay through the nose for their wireless service. It was just a little trick I figured out on my own!

The wireless thermostat. works flawlessly and if you have decent internet it should work. Also if your "signal" is weak. Just google YAGI Antenna, which is in theory a directional antenna. I know some of the boys on here with the Buckeye cams are using them for signal reception for their labyrinth of cams. :) All you will need to do is find out EXACTLY where the cell phone tower is and point it in that direction. Also, works like a charm.

 

[bueller]

I have a Smart Talk mobile hotspot. Walmart sells them for about $50. The packages with the red map run on the Verizon network. The packages with the blue map run on the AT&T network. Pay as you go $15 per month for 1GB of data. I only use it during the winter months. This with a WIFI thermostat from Honeywell allows me to monitor cabin temp from an app on my cell phone. I also have it setup to send alerts for certain high and low temps and lost connection (power outage). Plus it sure is nice pulling in to a warm cabin at 9pm in the middle of January after setting the heat to 70 on the drive up.

 

[Nova]

I always shut the water and power down the weekend before Christmas. Would be really nice to keep it running all winter, but we only have off peak heat, other than the wood stove. Would be nice to have water and a warm cabin when I get up there this Friday and it's well below zero, but is it really worth the money to heat it if you only go there once or twice a month in the winter? We have an out house and bring water, which is a PITA, but I can't see heating it for the few times we go. The water usually comes back on in March when we start going up again every weekend.

 

[jackpine]

Mine is 6.5 hrs away. I have it set up to drain the water easy, pour RV antifreeze in the traps and I leave the heat off. Never would I trust the power in Missouri to be on all the time.

Thanks Mo - that's kinda the reason for the question because even with wifi monitoring if you lose power the router is dead.....I guess you could have a small UPS system but I'm probably not smart enough to put that all together.

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[bueller]

I always shut the water and power down the weekend before Christmas. Would be really nice to keep it running all winter, but we only have off peak heat, other than the wood stove. Would be nice to have water and a warm cabin when I get up there this Friday and it's well below zero, but is it really worth the money to heat it if you only go there once or twice a month in the winter? We have an out house and bring water, which is a PITA, but I can't see heating it for the few times we go. The water usually comes back on in March when we start going up again every weekend.

I agree for many people it may not be worth it to run the heat all winter. For me right now with the wife and young kids tagging along its worth it. No water would mean less family trips up in the winter and that's less trips for me since 99% of the time we all roll together.

 

[bueller]

Thanks Mo - that's kinda the reason for the question because even with wifi monitoring if you lose power the router is dead.....I guess you could have a small UPS system but I'm probably not smart enough to put that all together.

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Extended power outage in the winter means furnace fan is not running and cabin is going to freeze. At least with some alert system in place you have time to make an emergency trip up if necessary before the damage is done.

 

[jackpine]

I have a Smart Talk mobile hotspot. Walmart sells them for about $50. The packages with the red map run on the Verizon network. The packages with the blue map run on the AT&T network. Pay as you go $15 per month for 1GB of data. I only use it during the winter months. This with a WIFI thermostat from Honeywell allows me to monitor cabin temp from an app on my cell phone. I also have it setup to send alerts for certain high and low temps and lost connection (power outage). Plus it sure is nice pulling in to a warm cabin at 9pm in the middle of January after setting the heat to 70 on the drive up.

Thanks Bueller - that sounds like a cost effective option since I'm sure internet thru the local phone line is at least $35 a month if its even avail. The cell signal is weak by me but sounds like the antenna would solve that. Curious how the lost connection notice would get sent if u lose power..is there a battery somewhere in that system? Thnx again

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[bueller]

Thanks Bueller - that sounds like a cost effective option since I'm sure internet thru the local phone line is at least $35 a month if its even avail. The cell signal is weak by me but sounds like the antenna would solve that. Curious how the lost connection notice would get sent if u lose power..is there a battery somewhere in that system? Thnx again

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No batteries. The alerts are sent to me via email and push notification through the Honeywell app. I'm guessing the app "checks in" every so often with the thermostat to assure it's online. I forget what I have it set at but I think it's 45 minutes or so. If connection is lost for longer than that I'm notified. Also notified when it restores. I set it that for that time so I'm not notified everytime my hotspot drops connection for a minute or two, although I think it holds connection very well.

Neither Verizon or AT&T phones have service on your land? My hotspot locks on the Verizon signal while my Verizon smartphone sometimes struggles with connection in the same spot. I think the hotspot has stronger signal grabbing power.

 

[dsinwi]

My cabin is a little over an hour away from my home. Paying each month to heat it is just not practical for me since I only go there a time or two per in the winter months. We bring water along and I flip on the electric heat until the wood stove catches up. For me the cost of the monthly electric bill, possibility of loss of power, wifi\internet and frozen pipes just does not outweigh the effort to haul a few gallons of water and wait for the place to warm up. I redid some of the plumbing when I bought the place to a gravity drain and Like MO mentioned I plumbed in some extra valves and air fittings to blow the lines out as needed. Pretty easy to recharge the system in the winter if I chose to. Again, hauling the water is much easier.

 

[Nova]

I agree for many people it may not be worth it to run the heat all winter. For me right now with the wife and young kids tagging along its worth it. No water would mean less family trips up in the winter and that's less trips for me since 99% of the time we all roll together.

If I could get my wife to go to the cabin in the winter I'd be happy to leave the heat and water on. I get why you do it now!

 

[jackpine]

No batteries. The alerts are sent to me via email and push notification through the Honeywell app. I'm guessing the app "checks in" every so often with the thermostat to assure it's online. I forget what I have it set at but I think it's 45 minutes or so. If connection is lost for longer than that I'm notified. Also notified when it restores. I set it that for that time so I'm not notified everytime my hotspot drops connection for a minute or two, although I think it holds connection very well.

Neither Verizon or AT&T phones have service on your land? My hotspot locks on the Verizon signal while my Verizon smartphone sometimes struggles with connection in the same spot. I think the hotspot has stronger signal grabbing power.

OK that makes sense..thanks for explaining the details. Sounds like that type of setup would solve my concerns. I think both at&t and Verizon have service by me but the signals are weak. From what you're saying the hotspot might fix that issue. Thnx again

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[yoderjac]

For you guys that have cabins several hours drive from your home that you keep the heat and water on during winter, how do you know if the furnace stops working, etc? I know the new thermostats use WiFi that will text you or that you can see on a smartphone, but what if you don't have internet in the area..just looking for other ideas/options. Thanks

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I have a trailer with a pop-out permanently parked on my property. I'm in zone 7A, so our winters are not as harsh as in the north, but for reference, here is what I do. First, I build an insulated box to place over my outdoor hydrant. I put an oil filled electric heater in that box. I ran a copper line from the hydrant to my trailer input (city water). I keep the water tank empty). That copper line has heat tape and has insulation over the heat tape. The first thing inside the trailer on that line is a ball valve. When I am not at the trailer, I turn off the water at that point and open a valve in a sink. I have a large propane tank that runs my trailer heater. I turn the temperature as low as it goes on the thermostat but don't turn it off. I'd estimate the setting is about 40 degrees. Under each sink I place an oil filled electric heater set just above freezing. In these confined spaces, these heaters can keep the plumbing from freezing if the furnace fails. My old quest and newer pex plumbing has some give to it. With a faucet open for expansion, it can handle light freezes in places if necessary without cracking. I don't drain it. If I really wanted to be safe, I'd blow it out with an air compressor and not use water in the winter.

I have had a few freezes and resulting plumbing leaks, but the damage is small if the water is turned off on the way in. You don't get both the plumbing damage and resulting water damage.

Without some connection to the internet (via the cell system or other), you won't get long-distance notification. If you do establish an internet connection, you can use this to monitor temperature and get alerts: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/acurite-monitoring-for-indoor-tree-growers.6608/ Without it, the best you can do is have a backup heating system like me. Propane primary and electric secondary. My trailer has a battery so the furnace lights even if the power is out.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bill]

I'm with Mo. In Missouri we gets lots of power outages. And they outlast my battery back up.

I got so tired of crawling in a muddy crawl space in the spring sweating copper fittings that I replumbed the place. Pex with a manablock and an air fitting right in it. Every fixture has its own run. It literally takes 5 minutes to blow the whole system out.

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[Big Snow Man]

Very nice Bill did you do that yourself ?

 

[Bill]

Very nice Bill did you do that yourself ?

Yes it's the easiest plumbing to work with. Get a good crimping tool and your set. Also you can buy right angle benders to just bend the pex but a plumber told me not to do it. He recommended the right angle connectors you see in the picture.

For the blow out I just hose clamped an air fitting to a spare tube. Makes everything fast to drain including the hot water heater.

 

[Red Picqua]

OK that makes sense..thanks for explaining the details. Sounds like that type of setup would solve my concerns. I think both at&t and Verizon have service by me but the signals are weak. From what you're saying the hotspot might fix that issue. Thnx again

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remember you will have the ability to have an external antenna with a hotspot. My price for the hotspot was free and it was 10 bucks?? extra a month for an additional line???? It's really nothing. Mine is through verizon. I really don't care about the per month charge as the piece of mind is well worth it.

The alarm system is in my opinion even more cool. I have had two false alarms in about two years?? I do think I had someone peering in a window once hence the alarm. I have awesome neighbors and really blessed with it. I suppose all the stuff I do for them! Over xmas, my neighbor came down his driveway and I was cutting his firewood for him. I was there for about 3 hours before he said. " i heard a chainsaw and I am what is going on???" Great guy and a friend.

 

[Red Picqua]

Yes it's the easiest plumbing to work with. Get a good crimping tool and your set. Also you can buy right angle benders to just bend the pex but a plumber told me not to do it. He recommended the right angle connectors you see in the picture.

For the blow out I just hose clamped an air fitting to a spare tube. Makes everything fast to drain including the hot water heater.

Love and I mean LOVE that set up. Way slick and well thought out. I don't even know if you thought of it, but you could easily fill your system with RV antifreeze on some runs if needed. But, I am sure blowing works out well. but if you have a line that give you a problem it would be an easy fix.

 

[swat1018]

I'm with Bill and MO. I plumbed my place in Pex, so it drains by gravity to my basement where the rural water comes into the house. Have a ball valve w/ drain. Close ball valve, open the siphon drain on it, and open all the facets. Everything drains out by gravity. Pour RV antifreeze in the toilet and drains and I leave. Takes 5 minutes. I lose power a lot too, for whatever reason. I'm also surprised how there is "rural water" everywhere in MO.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Our camp is gravity-fed water supply from a mountain spring. We plumbed a system in PVC pipe and pex. There is a manifold in the basement where we drain everything in the camp and it takes about 5 minutes. Anti-freeze in all traps, toilets, urinals. We let a small trickle run all winter ( valve controlled ) in the pipe that feeds into the cabin which by-passes the manifold and runs down a large drain pipe into our septic system to keep the line from freezing. Never a problem. No need for water in the winter, unless an all-weekend function. Then we just do it all in reverse.

We're lucky - we have VERY local members that are only a couple miles away from camp that visit all winter long and keep an eye on the place. No furnace, only wood stove or electric baseboard heat which is powered by our 25kw generator. No utility power and cell phone service is VERY sketchy in our mountains - forget wi-fi.