How do I get warned before the pipes freeze at my camp?

What to watch

• Room temperature in the coldest part of the house, usually the corner with the plumbing in an outside wall.
• The heating system itself. Boiler or furnace supply temperature falls hours before the rooms do, so it is the earliest warning you can get.
• Power. Most winter freeze-ups start with an outage. The alarm needs a battery so it can tell you the power is out.

If there is no internet at the property

Many camps have none, or it is shut off for the winter. A plug-in Wi-Fi thermostat or sensor is no use there. Use a system with its own cellular connection, and check the signal at the property first.

Set the alert high enough to act on

An alert at 35°F arrives too late. Set the first alert at 50°F or so. That gives a caretaker, a plumber or a neighbor time to get there while the house is still above freezing.

Who gets the alert

Add the people who can actually drive over: a caretaker, a neighbor, your heating contractor. Each one can have their own login and alerts.

A small sensor or a panel?

If the property has dependable internet and you want one room temperature, a small Wi-Fi sensor is enough. A panel makes sense when there is no internet, when you want the boiler, power and several rooms watched together, or when the building holds something expensive to lose.