Low temp warning while on winter vacation

[Kroeran]

Forgot to mention, the Honeywell WiFi stat allows you to set a low (or high) temperature alarm, via e-mail or text. You can change all that remotely. All for $70.

My beef with the Nest is you pay a premium for features I don't really want. I don't need a device to try to "learn" my behavior and set the temperature for me. I wasn't really all that keen on having a set schedule of changing temperature settings. But I found it's a nice starting point, and I can adjust as needed from my cell phone, wherever I am.

I have Ecobee and Honeywell, I dont think Ecobee or Nest is worth the extra features.

 

[Kroeran]

Wifi thermostats are great until you have an issue with your wifi. Usually not a big deal. But if you're in another state and no one to go to your house to power cycle the router...good luck.

Get a dumb thermostat, set it and forget it. Better things to worry about in life than adjusting the thermostat while you're away.

i have never had this problem but you could put router on light timer to reset every night. issue is healthcheck not remote control. thermostat continues at setting if wifi goes down

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Thanks all for the comments. I figured that others have had simiilar situations and have some ideas.

I just ordered the Honeywell RTH9585 from Amazon for $148.97 less a $50 rebate from Centerpoint (Thanks for the tip CardsFan!) It has

I'll post a followup when we get it installed.

I'm glad you worked out the C-wire issue. I have this thermostat, and I've also installed and used other Lyric, Nest, and Honeywell thermostats and this one is my favorite, largely because of the display. But also, as others pointed out, it can alert you to high or low temp and humidity, and I've never had it offline for more than a few minutes. I also have a ASUS RT-AC3200 tri-band router that I have set to reboot once a week, but if I were concerned about connectivity while I was away from home I could set that for once a day.

 

[wildbilly]

I have a Lacrosse Technology temperature sensor. I paid like $50 for the hardware and like $36 for 3 years of data logging/alerts. I can access the temperature data from an app on my phone. I set alerts for when the temperature goes below a certain level and get texts and emails when it does. I also have it notify me when it doesn't see the sensor within the last hour. This has always been an internet problem though it rare now that I went to DSL over cable.

I'm not at home right now but the app says the sensor is a TX60. It came with a internet gateway and a remote temp. sensor.

lacrossealertsmobile.com

 

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

Turn off the water at the source. Open all the drains especially the low point drains. Then leave the heat off.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Our insurance agent told us that the thermostat must be set at 55' or above, or they might deny a claim based on failure to properly protect the house. Here in the Midwest, the interior can cool off from 55' to 32' in 24 hours if it's cold outside, so even 55' doesn't give a whole lot of cushion.
I haven't researched to verify that information, but no amount of insurance could make up for the hassle a burst pipe could cause over the course of weeks/months. That happened to friends of ours and the house was basically totaled except for the exterior walls.


We have one of those basic systems that calls our cellphones if the temperature drops below a set value (I use 50') or the power is off for longer than a set time (I use 2 hours). But with many/most phone systems today, the phone dies if the power goes out. Our Comcast system has a backup battery but the phone still quits when the power goes out. We count on trusted neighbors who have a key and know how to use our big fireplace/wood stove. If the furnace fails but the electricity is still on, the system will notify us as designed.


We too turn off our water if gone from the house for more than 24 hrs:
Trip breaker for electric water heater
Turn off well pump
Open faucets upstairs and downstairs to drain as much water as possible.

 

[pb4uski]

We do the same. Turn off domestic hot and cold water and release pressure by opening taps for 10 sec or so. Also, piping is pex so in theory could freeze and not burst but we don't want to test that. Water is still on to radiant heat in slab floor and first floor hw baseboard for heat but these are in utility room which is below grade so would freeze last.

Set temperature at 55F. We did have a 48 hour power outage recently and inside temp declined to 40F.

Final fallback is to have the neighbor that looks in on our place build a big fire in the woodstove.

 

[Sunset]

Turn off the water at the source. Open all the drains especially the low point drains. Then leave the heat off.

Cannot do that in Northern States if you have a basement.
What will happen is the ground below the footings will freeze and heave, cracking your basement walls, basement floor, etc, doing large damage to the house.

 

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

Cannot do that in Northern States if you have a basement.
What will happen is the ground below the footings will freeze and heave, cracking your basement walls, basement floor, etc, doing large damage to the house.

Basement footings are specifically designed to be below the frost line. A basement floor temperature will approach the ground temperature.

 

[pb4uski]

Turn off the water at the source. Open all the drains especially the low point drains. Then leave the heat off.

Cannot do that in Northern States if you have a basement.
What will happen is the ground below the footings will freeze and heave, cracking your basement walls, basement floor, etc, doing large damage to the house.

Actually we do just that with my mom's Vermont summer home that has a full basement. The water enters the basement below the frost line. We turn the water off where it enters the house and drain all the supply pipes and blow any residual water out the pipes with a shop vac. We also fill the toilet bowls and sink traps with RV antifreeze. Done this for 30 years and not one crack in the basement walls.

For our house nearby, we just keep it heated at 55F but we do turn off the domestic water in case.

 

[Music Lover]

Basement footings are specifically designed to be below the frost line. A basement floor temperature will approach the ground temperature.

That may be true in a milder winter climate but it gets to -35 up here...if the heat is turned off the pipes will freeze once the cold air chills the basement slab enough.

 

[nwsteve]

Thanks all for the comments. I figured that others have had simiilar situations and have some ideas.

I just ordered the Honeywell RTH9585 from Amazon for $148.97 less a $50 rebate from Centerpoint (Thanks for the tip CardsFan!) It has

I'll post a followup when we get it installed.

You might check with your electric utility and see if they are offering any rebates for your thermostat. We replaced our dead Ecobee with the Honeywell and IIRC $35-50 rebate on it.
We got the Ecobee about 4 years ago when our utility was promoting its various wife features and wanted us to use in exchange for them doing a trial remote power setback in high energy use times. (you had the option to override)., Our furnance tech said they had had a lot of calls on the Ecobee and were real fans of Honeywell.

 

[53anddone]

You might check with your electric utility and see if they are offering any rebates for your thermostat. We replaced our dead Ecobee with the Honeywell and IIRC $35-50 rebate on it.

We got the Ecobee about 4 years ago when our utility was promoting its various wife features and wanted us to use in exchange for them doing a trial remote power setback in high energy use times. (you had the option to override)., Our furnance tech said they had had a lot of calls on the Ecobee and were real fans of Honeywell.

I have the same Honeywell’s in our house here in New England. We also heat with wood in one section.

What we do is use two of them in the part of the house which the wood heat does not heat and leave them off in the wood heat section (which would constantly fool them).

When on vacation we turn them all on. They work great. Well worth the modest investment.

Agree we would not turn the heat completely off in the winter (but u could if you drained pipes). The danger would be ANY water would freeze and for sure there would be some - in a drain trap, hot water heater, boiler, etc. that you would only discover upon return. But you can set at like 45 and be safe I have found.

 

[Sunset]

Actually we do just that with my mom's Vermont summer home that has a full basement. The water enters the basement below the frost line. We turn the water off where it enters the house and drain all the supply pipes and blow any residual water out the pipes with a shop vac. We also fill the toilet bowls and sink traps with RV antifreeze. Done this for 30 years and not one crack in the basement walls.

For our house nearby, we just keep it heated at 55F but we do turn off the domestic water in case.

So you are saying you shut off the heat to the house all winter, so the inside of the house becomes as cold as the outside ?

 

[pb4uski]

At my mom's, yes. No heat, main to power is off, water pipes are empty since we blow them out. I even drain the icemaker line to thej fridge and run so RV antifreeze through the washing machine.

Canned goods and other liquids that could freeze go into the basement below the frost line.

 

[pb4uski]

... The danger would be ANY water would freeze and for sure there would be some - in a drain trap, hot water heater, boiler, etc. that you would only discover upon return. But you can set at like 45 and be safe I have found.

A little residual water in a pipe is no problem... it just freezes and thaws... as long as it has air space to expand when it freezes it doesn't do any damage.

 

[CaptTom]

But you can set at like 45 and be safe I have found.

That's highly dependent on how your house is insulated, and where the pipes run. I have no doubt that pipes would burst all over my house if the temperature at the thermostat was 45F.

A little residual water in a pipe is no problem... it just freezes and thaws... as long as it has air space to expand when it freezes it doesn't do any damage.

That depends on where it is. It's easy to miss things like the pipe from the faucet to the shower head. Any horizontal runs with water in them can burst in the middle, even if there's air space on either end.

I've winterized summer cottages and/or boats probably every year since my early teens. It's very, very hard to get every possible location that ice can damage.

 

[pb4uski]

That's highly dependent on how your house is insulated, and where the pipes run. I have no doubt that pipes would burst all over my house if the temperature at the thermostat was 45F.



That depends on where it is. It's easy to miss things like the pipe from the faucet to the shower head. Any horizontal runs with water in them can burst in the middle, even if there's air space on either end.

I've winterized summer cottages and/or boats probably every year since my early teens. It's very, very hard to get every possible location that ice can damage.

Not in my experience... we've winterized that seasonal camp since 1962... in the earlier years we just drained the water and did have occasional problems... but no problems since we started blowing out the pipes with the shop vac 25 or so years ago. And I'm sure we don't get every little bit of water but we leave the faucets open so when any little remaining water freezes that it has room to expand without doing damage.

 

[Sunset]

At my mom's, yes. No heat, main to power is off, water pipes are empty since we blow them out. I even drain the icemaker line to thej fridge and run so RV antifreeze through the washing machine.

Canned goods and other liquids that could freeze go into the basement below the frost line.

So I'm just trying to understand this, as how do the canned goods not freeze if they are in the basement ?

The only way I can see this works is if you don't have 2 solid months of below freezing temps as the basement itself, along with the entire house would be as cold as outside in the shade. So if the thermometer does not rise above 32F, even the ground under the footing will freeze, just as the ground at the surface freezes.

Just like if you dug a 4 foot deep hole in the backyard, the bottom of the hole would freeze. Although not as deep as the surface due to absorbing warmth from the far deeper ground.

 

[Music Lover]

So I'm just trying to understand this, as how do the canned goods not freeze if they are in the basement ?

The only way I can see this works is if you don't have 2 solid months of below freezing temps as the basement itself, along with the entire house would be as cold as outside in the shade. So if the thermometer does not rise above 32F, even the ground under the footing will freeze, just as the ground at the surface freezes.

Just like if you dug a 4 foot deep hole in the backyard, the bottom of the hole would freeze. Although not as deep as the surface due to absorbing warmth from the far deeper ground.

Exactly. Once you did a hole, the bottom of the hole is no longer below grade.

 

[pb4uski]

If the hole is open to the elements and has no cover, then you are right... the bottom of the hole would freeze... But if it is covered like a basement is by the structure above then it doesn't freeze. Same thing with where the water supply enters the basement... it is below grade so it doesn't freeze. We do put the canned goods on the bottom shelf near the basement floor.

The ground temperature below the frost line is 45-50F and keeps the basement air temp from freezing.

 

[Music Lover]

If the hole is open to the elements and has no cover, then you are right... the bottom of the hole would freeze... But if it is covered like a basement is by the structure above then it doesn't freeze. Same thing with where the water supply enters the basement... it is below grade so it doesn't freeze. We do put the canned goods on the bottom shelf near the basement floor.

It depends on how severe your winter climate is. If it gets to -20 then your pipes will freeze in the basement even under the slab if the heat is turned off for an extended period. The bottom of a hole is not below grade.

 

[pb4uski]

It depends on how severe your winter climate is. If it gets to -20 then your pipes will freeze in the basement even under the slab if the heat is turned off for an extended period. The bottom of a hole is not below grade.

I disagree... even with -20F temps the air temp just above the slab will not be below freezing. In Vermont our winters are about as severe as it gets in the US other than perhaps MN or ND.

 

[CaptTom]

pb4uski is correct. Until you get up into the Arctic, where there's permafrost, there is a "frost line" below which the ground doesn't ever freeze. Local codes require things like underground water pipes and footings to be below this line. Around here the line is around 3 feet, so the codes require 4-foot depths for footings.

Without heat, the basement quickly becomes the warmest room in the house. The water pipes entering the basement from the street won't freeze, even in a vacant, unheated house. Only if the house is removed and the cellar hole open to the elements will it become a problem.

 

[RAE]

pb4uski is correct. Until you get up into the Arctic, where there's permafrost, there is a "frost line" below which the ground doesn't ever freeze. Local codes require things like underground water pipes and footings to be below this line. Around here the line is around 3 feet, so the codes require 4-foot depths for footings.

Without heat, the basement quickly becomes the warmest room in the house. The water pipes entering the basement from the street won't freeze, even in a vacant, unheated house. Only if the house is removed and the cellar hole open to the elements will it become a problem.

Yes, that's the way it works here in northern Michigan in MOST winters also. But every now and then we have an extremely cold winter where the frost line goes below the depth where the pipes and footings are buried. This exact situation last occurred during the winter of 2013/14, when the frost line went down to 6-7 feet (or even deeper) in places by late in the winter (a couple feet below the code depth for water pipes), causing all sorts of problems for a lot of people.