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Not sure if this is the right place to post this but here it goes.I have a mountain cabin,I only go there about once a month,except for winter months,my question is.....What is a reliable way to tell if the power went out? Also,any way to tell how long it was out? Thanks for all the help I get on this.
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but here it goes.I have a mountain cabin,I only go there about once a month,except for winter months,my question is.....What is a reliable way to tell if the power went out? Also,any way to tell how long it was out? Thanks for all the help I get on this.
Check the local power company website. See if they have a sign up for power outage notifications. I have a cabin in the woods and was able to sign up for outages with power company. They text me when the power goes down and they text me when it's been fixed.
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but here it goes.I have a mountain cabin,I only go there about once a month,except for winter months,my question is.....What is a reliable way to tell if the power went out? Also,any way to tell how long it was out? Thanks for all the help I get on this.
There are freeze warning monitoring systems that will send an automated call to a phone number you designate. You could either set this up with your utility or call them if you get the warning. One problem...if no one can reach the cabin to check, the darned thing will keep calling until someone either fixes the problem or resets the system. A snowbirding neighbor of mine set me up as the recipient for his. Fuel for the boiler ran out, the system called me every two hours day and night for months. The system decided not to accept the reset code. No one could reach the house due to a 2 mile road, 5 feet of snow, and a windthrown tree. I am not exaggerating. Pulled that system's little plug forever after that fiasco believe me! Consider what and why you need to know. Just recording whether the power goes off may not be all you need.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-29-2018 at 02:09 PM..
Let’s assume you don’t visit in Winter, and once a month during other seasons; so, you
clean out the fridge before you leave each month, and winterize the cabin before Winter sets in, if this was my routine, I wouldn’t care if the power went out, but if I had to know I would
buy a digital plug in clock, if the power went out the clock will blink at 12:00 until reset.
If there's a phone line there, Get a Sensaphone 1000 home monitor. It can call out if there's an alert condition or you can call it for a voice report. It reports AC power out, temperature out of range, it;s own batteries weak, loud sounds like another alarm going off, the condition a couple wired alarm contacts for whatever you connect them to. These are older models and can be found cheap. Radio shack sold a similar device.
Plastic drink cup, fill 2/3 with water, place in the freezer, when frozen, place a heavy 5/8" nut on top of the ice. If you return and the nut is still on top of the ice....no outage.
If you arrive and the nut is at the bottom of the cup, and the water has refrozen, discard all contents of the fridge/freezer.
Plug in an analog clock, adjust to current time, leave the house. If you come back and the time is still correct, bingo no outage. If time is different....power outage has occurred, and the time difference would accurately reflect up to a 12 hour outage.
If there's a phone line there, Get a Sensaphone 1000 home monitor. It can call out if there's an alert condition or you can call it for a voice report. It reports AC power out, temperature out of range, it;s own batteries weak, loud sounds like another alarm going off, the condition a couple wired alarm contacts for whatever you connect them to. These are older models and can be found cheap. Radio shack sold a similar device.
I don't know the model/make of the system my neighbors had, but again, a warning. If the thing decides not to accept reset codes, or whatever, it will annoy the h*$% out of whoever gets the phone alerts! I left my phone off the hook at night for weeks because of that idiotic thing.
Plastic drink cup, fill 2/3 with water, place in the freezer, when frozen, place a heavy 5/8" nut on top of the ice. If you return and the nut is still on top of the ice....no outage.
If you arrive and the nut is at the bottom of the cup, and the water has refrozen, discard all contents of the fridge/freezer.
Plug in an analog clock, adjust to current time, leave the house. If you come back and the time is still correct, bingo no outage. If time is different....power outage has occurred, and the time difference would accurately reflect up to a 12 hour outage.
Regards
Gemstone1
What wonderfully simple non-technological ideas!! Tells you exactly what you want to know (but nothing extra).
I don't know the model/make of the system my neighbors had, but again, a warning. If the thing decides not to accept reset codes, or whatever, it will annoy the h*$% out of whoever gets the phone alerts! I left my phone off the hook at night for weeks because of that idiotic thing.
You can disable the call out feature of the Sensaphone. You call it when you want to check on the place. A computer voice announces the conditions and than lets you listen to the sounds in the house through it's microphone.
Plastic drink cup, fill 2/3 with water, place in the freezer, when frozen, place a heavy 5/8" nut on top of the ice. If you return and the nut is still on top of the ice....no outage.
If you arrive and the nut is at the bottom of the cup, and the water has refrozen, discard all contents of the fridge/freezer.
Plug in an analog clock, adjust to current time, leave the house. If you come back and the time is still correct, bingo no outage. If time is different....power outage has occurred, and the time difference would accurately reflect up to a 12 hour outage.
Regards
Gemstone1
Or just put some ice cubes in a cup in the freezer.
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