Remote wifi temperature sensor

mark schofield

I live in Madison CT and would like to monitor the indoor temperature in a house in New Milford CT., about 70 miles away. I'm concerned with furnace lockout or failure over the coming winter months, and the consequential drop in temperature and possible freezing of pipes. I would access the sensor daily during the winter over the internet ( smart phone) to check on the temperature. I don't need any tracking, trends, humidity, ect.. Only the indoor temperature. The house has Frontier internet with the wifi/gateway always on. I've looked on Amazon and many are available, but a recommendation from a pro who has actually used a unit would be helpful TIA, Mark S

PEvans

You could use a Nest thermostat.

jad3675

mark schofield said:

I live in Madison CT and would like to monitor the indoor temperature in a house in New Milford CT., about 70 miles away. I'm concerned with furnace lockout or failure over the coming winter months, and the consequential drop in temperature and possible freezing of pipes. I would access the sensor daily during the winter over the internet ( smart phone) to check on the temperature. I don't need any tracking, trends, humidity, ect.. Only the indoor temperature. The house has Frontier internet with the wifi/gateway always on. I've looked on Amazon and many are available, but a recommendation from a pro who has actually used a unit would be helpful TIA, Mark S

I'm a fan of the Govee wireless thermometers. They're cheap and just work.

EBEBRATT-Ed

In addition to the temp sensor you may wan't to add boiler water temperature (if it is a boiler) which would give you a heads up before the house gets cold. In addition some equipment can give you a lockout signal when they are down

Tim Potter

Inexpensive WIFI thermostat on sale at HomeDepot RTH6580WF for 69.00

Tim

mark schofield

Thanks for the suggestions. The system is hot air, so probably a room temp sensor that I can access remotely will be sufficient.

Sal Santamaura

Use the KISS principal. Get a plain old round thermostat. Wire it in series with a 680 ohm resistor and connect to a phone line. Set to whatever temperature of concern you'd prefer. I selected 45 degrees when doing this years ago. Then call the phone number. If it rings, all's fine. If you get a busy signal, ambient in the house is less than your set point.

ratio

Awesome! I wonder if that would work with one of those cell-based hardline replacements. I think it should?

Sal Santamaura

ratio said:

Awesome! I wonder if that would work with one of those cell-based hardline replacements. I think it should?

As you might be able to tell, I'm not an early adopter, so don't know for certain. However, if what you're describing is a device that has a standard telephone jack into which one can plug phones, etc., it should probably work. The "on hook" / "off hook" impedance protocol has been around for a looooong time.

ratio

That's my take on it too, but you never know. I've seen people go thought extraordinary lengths to break basic functionality before!

woobagooba

Assuming WiFi is available and POTS is not ... I'd install a WiFi thermostat. Look for one w/o monthly subscription fees.

Sal Santamaura

woobagooba said:

Assuming WiFi is available and POTS is not...

As best I can determine from a cursory search, Frontier phone in New Milford CT is POTS, not fiber. The biggest knock on Frontier is that it hasn't converted to fiber. Personally, I refuse to give up POTS, and use cable for Internet service. AT&T, our POTS provider here, won't connect fiber to a home unless the owner gives up POTS. They'll pry the copper from my cold, dead hands.