Smart things recommendations

dangeRuss

So I've had 3 leaks in my house so far, and I haven't fixed up the drywall yet, but I imagine it's not going to be cheap.

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

We've also had the babysitters leave the garage open.

I think it's time for some smart alarms in the house. Do you guys have any recommendations?

I see a couple of alarms for the gas detection on amazon:

Amazon.com

The pricing isn't bad, but would be nice if I also got an alert on my phone.

Same for the water leak detection and garage open.

Any recommendations?

sloosecannon

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

garage open.

Chamberlain has a thing to do this. The app is kinda shit, but it works, so. It works with any garage door with... Whatever that universal protocol thing is

dangeRuss

@sloosecannon said in Smart things recommendations:

Chamberlain

Looks like a no go due to monthly fees:

Amazon.com

sloosecannon

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

@sloosecannon said in Smart things recommendations:

Chamberlain

Looks like a no go due to monthly fees:

Amazon.com: Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub - Wi-Fi enabled Garage Hub with Smartphone Control, Model MYQ-G0301, Old Version, Black : Tools & Home Improvement

I'm not paying monthly fees for it... At least I don't think I am?

ETA: Nope, definitely not.

TimeBandit

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

We've also had the babysitters leave the garage open.

May I suggest better babysitters ?

dangeRuss

@timebandit said in Smart things recommendations:

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

We've also had the babysitters leave the garage open.

May I suggest better babysitters ?

They all suck. This one was the best we were able to find. Previous ones made mistakes too. I think we just need to put in some fail-safes to help prevent mistakes (or fix them easier).

Jaloopa

No idea how it works in practice but the insurance company I work for are trialling LeakBot

Home - LeakBot

It's supposed to detect leaks as small as a couple of millilitres

anotherusername

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

@timebandit said in Smart things recommendations:

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

We've also had the babysitters leave the garage open.

May I suggest better babysitters ?

They all suck. This one was the best we were able to find. Previous ones made mistakes too. I think we just need to put in some fail-safes to help prevent mistakes (or fix them easier).

Why are they using the gas stove? If they can't be trusted with a gas stove (and not everyone is familiar with how they work, so I wouldn't generally trust just anyone with it) it might be good to just tell them they're restricted to the microwave and the crock pot.

(Sorry, I don't have much to contribute on actual smart things recommendations though.)

Adynathos

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

Many gas stoves have a bimetallic temperature sensor which closes the valve if the burner is cold.
That should be more reliable than any internet/phone/app solution.

anotherusername

@adynathos said in Smart things recommendations:

@dangeruss said in Smart things recommendations:

Last night the babysitter almost burned down the house when she left the gas on (turned it left instead of right to shut it off, when she found out the range didn't work (the pilot lighter went bad)).

Many gas stoves have a bimetallic temperature sensor which closes the valve if the burner is cold.
That should be more reliable than any internet/phone/app solution.

I've seen that in ovens, but never in stove top burners. How do they work?

Ovens use an electric heating element to both turn on the gas and light it (once it's hot enough, it produces enough heat to do both). All the burners I've seen on stove tops had electric spark ignitions and it wouldn't work there because the electric spark produces very little heat -- it'd need either some other sort of heat source or a manual override to get gas flowing to actually light the burner.

Adynathos

@anotherusername said in Smart things recommendations:

All the burners I've seen on stove tops had electric spark ignitions and it wouldn't work there because the electric spark produces very little heat -- it'd need either some other sort of heat source or a manual override to get gas flowing to actually light the burner.

The gas flow is also open when you manually press the valve (which often activates the spark ignition too).
But there is a spring and if you stop pressing the valve, it closes again, unless the sensor is hot.

So when igniting, you have to hold the valve pressed for a short time, until the sensor heats up.
On the upside, you do not burn the house down.