Overnight temperature monitor

muckles

Hi all, have just taken over an aged relatives house as he is in a care home now. I had his boiler serviced but it failed the smoke test and the gas engineer turned the boiler off and placed a warning notice on it.
I have borrowed some oil filled radiators and left them on a timer but have no idea whether the house will be warm enough to protect it from freezing.
Can anyone advise me if there is a monitor I can buy which will let me track the temperature on my iPad.
Many thanks.

Andy_WSM

Usually with oil filled radiators the lowest thermostat setting will be for frost protection. They should NOT be on timers though if you are using them to protect against frost as when they need to come on they may not be able to for hours later - then it's too late!

Leave them plugged in on their lowest setting and let the thermostat do the job it's designed to do. They won't draw power unless they are actually protecting against frost, in which case the cost of energy becomes very good value for money against the alternative of making expensive repairs.

matelodave

Something like this would allow you to monitor the house temperature but you need a broadband connection and a wi-fi router in the house as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMART4HOUSE-S4H-TM-00-Wireless-Temperature-Thermometer/dp/B00Q3DK5FI

Alternaively, get a temperature data logger and download the data when you visit the place. It will give you some idea of how the house temperature varies over time and you can tweak the rad stats to suit.

like this https://www.omega.co.uk/pptst/OM-EL-USB-1.html although I dont know if there's mobile phone software availble to suck the info out, you might need a laptop.

have a read here, it's relaively up to date http://www.nwclimate.org/reviews/remote-temperature-monitoring/

As Andy says, dont have the rads on a timer, set the frost stat so they come on when it gets cold.

EachPenny

So long as the radiators are in or near the rooms which are the coldest and operate for at least a couple of hours a day then you are unlikely to have a problem.

If you are really concerned then just buy a traditional min-max thermometer, which shouldn't cost more than a few quid, and you might be able to get one in a pound shop. That way you'll know if the temperature is ever falling below around 5 degrees and how careful you need to be.

The main issue will be if there are tanks and pipework in a loft as these can get much colder than the rest of the house and if the whole house is not being heated then the heat leakage into the loft may not be enough to keep it above freezing. Leaving the loft hatch slightly open should resolve this.

Is the house likely to be left empty long-term? If so it makes sense to drain the water systems down rather than trying to constantly heat the house. Draining the system is something you could do yourself and you'll find all the guidance you need online.

Even if you keep on heating the house I would turn the water off at the meter/stopvalve and turn it off at the first stopvalve inside the house (if there is one). That will limit the volume of water that can leak if something does go wrong.

Also, if this is a long term thing then it would make sense to look at having an Economy 7 meter fitted if there isn't one already. If the house is unoccupied then the daytime consumption will be minimal and the heaters can be set to come on during the cheap hours. Unless the house is very poorly insulated then an overnight heating should keep it well above freezing until the following day.

As a guide, when I leave my house unheated the lowest internal temperature I've ever recorded has been 8 degrees, and that was in a two-week period when outside temperatures regularly fell to zero and at one point dropped to -10.

Anthorn

muckles wrote: »

Hi all, have just taken over an aged relatives house as he is in a care home now. I had his boiler serviced but it failed the smoke test and the gas engineer turned the boiler off and placed a warning notice on it.
I have borrowed some oil filled radiators and left them on a timer but have no idea whether the house will be warm enough to protect it from freezing.
Can anyone advise me if there is a monitor I can buy which will let me track the temperature on my iPad.
Many thanks.

Looks like you need a min/max thermometer which shows the minimum and maximum temperatures attained during a period. Electronic min/max thermometers are available but mine is a manual U-shaped thermometer with two needles in it which indicates the temperatures. Have a look in garden centres and Amazon has them.

There are several thermometers in the App Store. Have a look in there.

muckles

Many thanks for all the vey helpful replies.
I have turned the water off at the road but will try and drain down the loft tank as soon as I can reach the property which is 40 miles from me.
One of the rads has a frost setting the other two do not and advice will be followed for the frost setting rad.
I was not sure about the loft hatch and will leave it open slightly as suggested.
Your assistance much appreciated.

jbainbridge

Google - plug in thermostat

You could use them with the other radiators.