With how hot the summers get, it’s easy for the freezing weather to sneak up on you. New England can get really cold in the winter. Thankfully, the advent of home heating systems has largely eliminated the danger of cold air getting into the home. With seasonal averages of below freezing, only made colder with wind chill, the security in knowing your home is kept warm helps us all feel a lot safer during the dark, cold months.

New England’s temperatures can get dangerously low if we aren’t careful. January alone can hold averages of 32 degrees and lower, well below freezing. If your heating system fails and you aren’t home, you can come home to a freezing house, which may not only be uncomfortable, but dangerous. Low temperature sensors exist in order to prevent this – by keeping track of the temperatures throughout the house and sounding an alert whenever that temperature drops too low.

What is a Low Temperature Sensor?

Low temperature sensors keep track of the air temperature in a room, not unlike a thermometer, and will sound an alert when the temperature drops below a threshold you define. Typically, this threshold should be well under what your expected house temperature is. Once you have the alert, you’ll thankfully know a lot sooner than before when the temperatures in your house get too low for comfort.

But why do you need one, aside from comfort? The biggest danger you could face without a low temperature sensor is freezing pipes. When pipes freeze, they have a good chance of bursting, which can cause intense water damage to a home. Low temperature sensors also benefit at helping keep specific rooms at optimal temperatures. An expensive wine collection may need to be kept at a specific temperature, and the low temperature sensor can keep an eye on it for you without needing to physically check a thermometer in the room, leaving you more time and less worries.

How Does a Low Temperature Sensor Work?

Low temperature sensors are designed to be placed in areas that could cause problems if they drop below a certain temperature, rather than everywhere in the home. Due to the presence of things like windows, a frequently used front door, and house level, different rooms can often fluctuate in temperature rather easily. The best places to put these temperature sensors include basements, under sink cabinets, near water lines, and the attic. There are plenty of other smart places to keep them as well; the rooms of children in order to ensure their rooms stay warm enough during the night, for example.

The sensor works by sending you an alert when temperature levels change in the house. Some will alert you of temperature fluctuation through a smartphone app, while others can integrate directly into your security system. Both will let you monitor the temperature of the home from any location just the same, however. Some even double as motion sensors, as well as humidity and smoke detectors.

What Else Can Prevent Pipes Bursting?

Additional hardware exists to help prevent costly water damage from occurring in your home that can work alongside your low temperature sensors. Water leak detectors exist for many of the same reasons as low temperature sensors: to prevent leaks that can lead to extensive water damage. The way a water leak detector goes about preventing this is different from the low temperature sensors. A low temperature sensor will alert you when temperatures get too low in a given room, which can help you prevent pipes from freezing with the knowledge that the air is especially cold in there. A leak detector, conversely, doesn’t activate until it already actively notices a leak, but comes with the benefit of an automatic shutoff valve, which will turn off the water immediately when it detects a leak.

Although different, the two systems work very well together. Low temperatures sensors can help you ensure the pipes never freeze in the first place by keeping an eye on the air temperature around the pipes. The leak detectors will stop leaks in their tracks, whether it’s a frozen pipe you couldn’t get to in time, or a leak caused by something other than frozen pipes.

Low temperature sensors are handy for any home, and especially handy for homes you may be away from for a longer period of time, like vacation homes – or your residence when you’re away at a vacation home. By having low temperature sensors set up throughout the house, you can keep an eye on the temperatures while you’re away, preventing pricey accidental water damage before it even begins, not matter how far away you are.

Keeping your home protected from low temperatures is more important than ever during the winter, but these devices can assist at your business as well. Sensitive product which needs to be stored at certain temperatures can be saved from going bad with the help of temperature sensors, and, of course, can prevent losses to your business as well as your home by preventing water damage before it begins. With a low temperature sensor in your home or business, that’s one less thing you’ll need to worry about, in the winter or year round.