Vacation Home Monitoring: What You Should Care About
Owning a vacation home is usually a lifelong dream come true - until something goes wrong and you’re not there to fix it. But what's actually important to monitor while you're away?
Pipes freeze. Power goes out. Humidity creeps up and warps the floors. Raccoons or bats can get inside and make a mess (an all-too true story). And most of the time? Problems like these aren’t noticed until much later, when the damage is already done.
That’s why vacation home monitoring is more than a nice-to-have. It's a way to keep your vacation home a happy place and not a cause of stress or worry. As experts at remote property monitoring, we know what goes wrong most often, what you can track, and the best way to do it.
1. Temperature Drops (Especially in Winter)
The #1 risk for most vacation homes in colder climates is freezing pipes. Water expands as it freezes, and even a brief drop below 0°C (32°F) can be enough to crack pipes leading to water damage that insurance might not fully cover.
Key stat: Water damage is the most common and costly insurance claim for Canadian vacation homes
What to monitor: Indoor temperature. Alerts if it drops below a safe threshold (often ~5°C or 41°F) can help you take action before it's too late.
2. Power Outages
Many appliances and essential parts of heating systems rely on electricity - even gas furnaces usually have electric thermostats and blowers. A power outage during a cold snap can silently lead to frozen pipes; in the summer, a failed sump pump.
To make matters worse, power outages also knock out any WiFi - so most smart home devices won't be able to tell you what's going on.
Key stat: In Canada, rural properties experience 2–3× more outages than urban ones, mostly due to longer power lines and more exposure to storms.
What to monitor: Power status. You want to know immediately if the power goes out.
3. Humidity and Air Quality
Too dry, and wood furniture and floors can crack. Too humid, and you risk mould, mildew, and warped floors. Both are bad news for long-empty homes. In a home that's occupied year-round, you'll notice these things early and take action, but that doesn't happen with seasonal properties.
Humidity danger zone: Relative humidity above 60% can promote mold growth, especially if ventilation is poor.
What to monitor: Indoor humidity, and ideally some air quality indicators like VOCs for signs of stale or contaminated air.
4. Water Leaks
Slow leaks from appliances, water heaters, or even roof drips can go unnoticed for weeks or months. And unless your vacation home is in a desert, moisture problems tend to get worse over time.
Tip: Place leak detectors under sinks, near sump pumps, or by the water heater.
5. Security & Entry Monitoring
This might not mean installing full camera systems. In areas with spotty WiFi or limited power, just knowing if a door or window was opened can be enough to ask a neighbour to go check on things.
What to monitor: Entry sensors on doors/windows, motion sensors in key areas, or even a simple sound sensor to detect alarms or loud noises.
6. Connectivity Reliability
All the sensors in the world are useless if they stop working when you need them most. The key is reliable alerts that don't just rely on WiFi.
A few questions to ask yourself when considering a vacation home monitoring system:
- Can the system work during power outages?
- Does it rely on WiFi that might go down?
- Can it send alerts via cellular or backup connection?
You don’t need pages of fancy apps to monitor your vacation home. What you do need is reliable, simple coverage for the most common and costly risks - cold, outages, moisture, and intrusion.
Pick the right sensors. Make sure they can alert you no matter what.
CabinPulse is an option we'd wholeheartedly recommend, though we're admittedly biased. Regardless of the system you choose, make sure to check reviews and ensure it works for your area and needs.
Rest easier knowing that your vacation home won’t surprise you (in a bad way!) when you return.
