WiFi Thermostat

[SGPopp]

I have a place up north, about 2.5 hours from my house. I have a DPW boiler and in floor heat that's maintained at 55 degrees when we're not there. We recently bought a new house and it has a WiFi thermostat. Before having one I never realized how nice they are. It got me thinking about how nice it would be to monitor the temperature up north. The boiler has been trouble free but there is always the peace of mind aspect especially when it's in the middle of a cold snap.

What I'm wondering is what do other people do in similar situations? Set up internet service? Something cell phone related? We have Verizon with excellent coverage up there? Something else? Anybody tie it into a security system? What type?

Any beneficial information is realty appreciated.

[rwl]

I have the same question for quite a few years, I have not found a reliable answer. If I had phone lines buried it would be easy.

All the internet sources/wifi hotspots I've looked at (cellcom/sprint/Verizon) I was told I couldn't pair with a thermostat. I just might try it anyway.

I have a wifi t-stat in my detached shop garage and it is very nice, if I'm at work and decide I'll do something out there in the evening I can bump up heat from work, or turn it up on a Saturday morning before breakfast and it ready when I get out there.

[Cold Front Illinois]

I have a WiFi thermostat in my lake house and I do check it often when I see the area has some heavy storms or high winds. I would think in order for it to work properly and always be connected you would have to keep the internet service connected. I have Comcast to the home and I pay for it year round.

As for the security camera, I have two wireless cameras also connected to the WiFi network at all times also. Both the thermostat and the wifi cameras have an app for the phone and my laptop.

I purchased two of the wireless cameras from Menards for about $25 each. You can put as many cameras on the account as you want, so I have 4 more cameras set up at my regular residence. They are inside cameras, I just haven't set them outside to try them. Brand name is Momentum. All you need is the cameras, no central unit to purchase.

As long as I have to pay for the internet, I might as well put up a couple of cameras also. No monthly charge for the security cameras. They do have internal mini sd cards for recording if it detects motion or sound, and then sends an alert to your phone.

And yes, if I am headed up for a couple of day, you can up the temperature to have it warmer when you get there, or cooled off in the summer.

I am glad I hooked it up.

[Bobby Winds]

I purchased a Honeywell Lyric T5 WiFi thermostat for the house for $99 and it works great. Nice to lay on the couch and turn the heat up via my iPad. Can add cameras and all the other stuff if need be.

Easy to set up and use...........https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-RCH...+t5+thermostat

[DW]

I have a separate, freestanding gas stove that is thermostatically controlled. Since it does not plugin to power, and has no moving parts, I think this redundant heat supply gives as much security to prevent freezing as is possible.

I leave the house for extended periods so I take the issue seriously. I am sure that I will install a connected inside thermometer so I can remotely monitor via wifi. I am also considering a fully programmable thermostat wifi connected for the luxury of remote temperature setting. Remote sensing is nice, but I don't think it is as failsafe as a redundant gas, nonelectric, heat source. In bitter cold, it may be too late by the time you pick up an alarm and arrange for someone to take care of the problem.

[unclemoe]

we have a place in northern Wisco thats about 4.5 hours from our house. we have been using a WIFI thermostat since we bought the property 6 years ago now. honeywell i believe similar one to what someone mentioned earlier. we go internet service run to our place because we have wifi security Cameras as well as the thermostat.

both work great it is nice to turn up the heat when were an hour away so the house is nice and warm when we show up as well and keep an eye on the place when were not there.

But the one issue we found with the honey well we had was that the heat set at 40* which was the lowest the thermostat could go and set it to alarm if the house got lower then 38* well come to find out we ran out of propane a few weeks ago and turns out that the thermostat can not read a temp lower then 40* so it never alarmed to us that the heat was off....... to our fun supprise we had some busted pipes and toilets but over all nothing major that isnt self fixable.

[Cold Front Illinois]

I keep my lake house temp set to 58 or so. I think once everything inside is up to a 58 degree temperature it really doesn't cost that much to keep it at that temp.

The area I am in does have frequent power outages, but nothing longer then 5 or 6 hours or so. I don't want to leave the temp too close to freezing. It would take a day or so for it to get to the point where the freezing of pipes would come into play.

The extra dollars I am spending for a couple of months in the winter just gives me a little more piece of mind.

Just my thoughts

[bigdaddyguns]

Originally Posted by SGPopp

What I'm wondering is what do other people do in similar situations? Set up internet service? Something cell phone related? We have Verizon with excellent coverage up there?

A friend of mine with a remote cabin recently setup a wifi thermostat in his place but did not have any cable/dsl service in the area. He also had good Verizon coverage and ordered an internet over 4G device/access point for his cabin. I think he said data is added to his Verizon plan. Anyway he can run a remote video camera and his wifi thermostat over the connection plus now he has internet access at the cabin. I think his only additional cost was an upgraded data package. I assume Verizon has more details that you may want to check out for your situation.

[rwl]

I did a chat with Verizon yesterday and this is what we came up with. $49 to purchase, $55 a month for internet via cellular. I was told the less expensive hotspots would not work. This was for 2Gb that rolls over.

I am not sure I want another $55/month bill, plus taxes of course, although I could use it for T-stat and security system at cabin and grab it for the motorhome in the summer when we travel a bit to have internet besides just the phone. Also with more data I could use it for DirectV also using Apple TV or Roku, campground WiFi is hit or miss, mostly miss.

Next thing is I'm right on the edge of the coverage map for verizon at my cabin, so I would need to see if it would even work.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/home...nd-home-phone/

https://www.verizonwireless.com/vzw/...fromCart=true&

[waleye65]

I too have a cottage in northern Wi that I heat in winter. In order to monitor the furnace(working or not) I use a SENSAPHONE 400. Using a SENSAPHONE requires that I have a land line but no internet. Rather than check it on the net, I have to call it up and get a report from it or, if the temperature drops below a preset temperature it will call me up and let me know.
It will also monitor other things like power outage, doors or windows being opened, etc.
https://www.sensaphone.com/products/...ng-systems.php