Low Temperature Sensors

I remember a number of years ago a friend of mine was heading away over the Christmas holidays and thinking I might get something extra in my stocking, I had volunteered to water his plants while he was away. Aaron agreed that I would visit his house every other day until he got back. He made arrangements for snow removal in the event of snow, gave me a key and a code for the alarm system, and we had done the walk around the house, so I knew where all the plants were located. He had an average-size house and only a few plants so this should be easy right? Well for the most part it was OK; I visited the house every two days, watered the plants, took a general look around, and left.

This routine went on for about a week until Christmas Eve, and as Murphy’s Law would have it, if something is going to happen it’s always going to be at the most inconvenient time. I arrived at the house planning on a 15-minute stop, but when I opened the door it hit me: COLD. The house was really cold and the tile floor under my feet was making my feet numb. I went to the thermostat and the needle was buried below the lowest setting on the dial. To make matters worse, we were experiencing a cold snap, and that night was forecast to be -16, so I knew that if I didn’t discover what was going on the next thing, I would be dealing with is frozen pipes.

What Else Could Go Wrong

My friend forgot to call for automatic delivery from his oil company, and the tank ran out. But thanks to an oil delivery company with the Christmas spirit, they saved the day. The story often ends sadly with a flooded house and an insurance claim during Christmas. By the way, that was a true story. Luckily, my friend didn’t get a call during his vacation about his flooded house. If I hadn’t been scheduled to water his plants that day, I’m sure things would have turned out differently. However, the story might have changed with a low temperature sensor on his alarm system.

Low temperature sensors detect when the ambient temperature drops below a set threshold, which you can adjust to your desired temperature.

Fixed Sensors

Fixed low temperature sensors have a set threshold temperature that you can’t change. You can usually install it at the lowest cost, and you can choose between hardwired or wireless options. E.g. Honeywell’s fixed low temperature sensor activates when the room temperature remains below 7C or 45F for over ten minutes. If it does, the sensor will activate. Upon activation, the alarm system sends the low temperature alarm to the Central Monitoring Station just like any other alarm. The sensor is adjustable by your installer to monitor for other conditions as well, like a hot temperature condition, which is when the temperature rises above 35C or 95F for more than ten minutes, or, with the use of an optional water probe, to protect against flooding.

Variable Sensors

A variable temperature sensor allows the end user to adjust the temperature threshold in which the sensor will trigger. Low temperature sensors in this category are pricier but offer additional features like storing alarm events or showcasing data on an LED screen.  Similar to the fixed sensor described above, it’s common for a variable temperature sensor to have settings for both high and low temperature conditions but may have more intelligent firmware built in to discriminate between real or a false low temperature condition depending on the manufacturer.

If you would like more information on protecting your property with a Low Temperature device contact Wilsons Security at 1(866)- 453-3388