Alternative to landline for home freeze/power outage alarm?

[terrifictimbersllc]

We use a freeze alarm that monitors home temperature and power.  It will dial out on our phone line if the heat or power goes off.  And we can phone in to it to check status if we are away. 

Would like to ditch the land line and wondering if anyone uses a monitor that doesn't need one. 

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

You might want to look at Temp Stick. It seems to do what you want and is very well rated/reviewed at Amazon. Temp Stick at Amazon

Herb

[Ljohnsaw]

That's a pretty neat device but you need WiFi, so either a land line or some other internet service.  Funny, though.  It will alert you if the WiFi goes out... say_what

[DR Buck]

Our home security system is Simpli-Safe.  It has it's own internal cell connection available through different carriers and has internal battery backup.   Full interactive monitoring is $25 per month.    It is available with several sensor types other than the door/window and motion.    I have temperature and water monitors on my system.  I can query the house temperature and get alarm alerts for water in my basement as well as the intruder sensors.   I also get alerts when the house power goes off and back on.  Alerts are both text messages and email to several accounts.    I have had it for several years and am really please with the system.

[Ljohnsaw]

Our home security system is Simpli-Safe.

Can it be hooked to a camera?  That would be cool to email a picture of an intruder or email a picture of the outside conditions (snow).

[DR Buck]

Our home security system is Simpli-Safe.

Can it be hooked to a camera?  That would be cool to email a picture of an intruder or email a picture of the outside conditions (snow).

The system also has camera options.   The only downside is the camera video pass over WIFI independent of the Simpli-Safe internal cell unit.    On the good side, you can access live video any time from your cell phone.  They also offer 30 day video storage at their facility that you can access.   Cameras are activated automatically if an alarm is triggered.     Again, the only downside is you need to have internet connected WIFI at the location of the security system.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Thanks for your ideas, didn't know about these.  Trying to understand options taking big picture of home phone/internet/TV into account. We don't presently have cable. Wanting to upgrade internet speed and add some TV viewing for news/sports that we are currently missing.

I like that the landline stays on during a power failure and that the dialer/monitor can just be hooked to an automotive battery if we were to leave for a week or two.  But sick of the phone calls and seemingly unnecessary monthly charge for landline.

It looks 2 alternatives,
1) go with cable internet, and  invest in an uninterruptible power supply that would keep the cable modem/wi-fi running during a power failure.   This would run Temp Stick or similar.

2)go with a cellular based unit like Simpli Safe.  Wondering if there is one that can run off of a pre-paid Sim card, to avoid monthly charge.

Or stick with landline/DSL and disconnect the phone or pay for unlisted phone # or some caller ID provision.
:P :P :P

[petefrom bearswamp]

We have a landline dsl phone because cell service here is spotty, works most of the time BUT?
I use a simple system that calls if the temp is low or power out.
We now have a 22kw propane backup generator so power is not an issue when we are gone.
Our alarm system is now 10 yrs + old supplied by a local outfit and was pretty expensive ($2400) to get installed and then about 45 per month.
Stopped the monitoring system 3 yrs ago as we are so remote that the one time we had an alarm the law didnt even show up.
Wish that simplisafe was available then.

[gspren]

  Will the Simplisafe work even if there is no other phone or wifi at that location? When we travel between our 2 homes we take our phones and wifi with us so it is never at the house we need to check.

[DR Buck]

 Will the Simplisafe work even if there is no other phone or wifi at that location? When we travel between our 2 homes we take our phones and wifi with us so it is never at the house we need to check.

Yes   The Simpli-Safe base unit has its own cell module in it.  It is not a phone that can be called or dialed.

Thanks for your ideas, .......

It looks 2 alternatives,  .......


2)go with a cellular based unit like Simpli Safe.  Wondering if there is one that can run off of a pre-paid Sim card, to avoid monthly charge. ....

Simpli-Safe has a couple plans.  The non-interactive is $14, the full plan is $25.   I think the $14 plan still gets you alerts.   Check out their web site for more info.